Episode 1: Zeno
by Zell.Hatoule
Summary: Through thousands of calculations, dozens of shifts in reality, the idea that a time loop was constant, unchanging, and stable persisted throughout history. However, even the omniscient forget that the sum of the mortal experience is constant through change and existence. Xion - and all of Oracle - is about to learn that the hard way. Episode one of Dark Falz [Xeno].
1. Final Exam

Based on what might have happened if Gettemholt's request for a fight was honored. Because I wanted to expand the relationship between the protagonist and Zeno without it coming off as tacky, I decided to start a lot further back than I would have normally if the characters were as firmly established as they could have been.

* * *

Zeno would admit that he hadn't intended to originally do any real mentoring. The last couple of students he'd kept an eye on had done well without him, though he admitted they were fun to teach when they needed the hand. Echo of course, heard about it while he was mentioning it to Huey, and insisted on inviting herself along for the ARKS Final Exam on Naberius.

"Remind me again why you're here?" Zeno doesn't even _try_ to hide his exasperation with her, watching his childhood friend scan the surrounding area. She gives him an annoyed glare over the flickering screens.

"Because _last_ time, you complained about not being able to look up ARKS and you whined about losing time looking for them." Her point is well made, and he sighs, gives her a sheepish grin. "I don't know about you, but _I_ don't want to put up with your whining." Zeno sheepishly rubs the back of his head, embarrassed.

 _ **Destiny…**_ Zeno's head snaps up, and a look of bemusement crosses his face. Echo isn't paying attention, instead double-checking something with Brigitta. He taps his earpiece, and eventually, dismisses the odd statement. It must have just been someone switching channels and he overheard a bit of conversation.

"Hey, Zeno." Echo nudges him, and he snaps his focus back on his friend.

"Yeah, sorry. Something came over the comms, and I guess it was just someone switching channels." Echo raises a brow but shrugs and takes his word for it.

"I guess I talked over it while discussing the recruits with Brigitta. She said some students got separated from the main branch," She says lightly. "Something about a misplaced Telepipe for an advanced final, but someone messed up the campship assignment." Zeno snorts.

"Bureaucracy messes shit up every time." He agreed with a sigh. "The students doing okay?" Echo hums, tapping at the screen intently. He doesn't say a word, waiting for her to answer him.

"Actually, they might be right up your alley." She smiles at the screen. "Exceptional scores across the board for them both – they declined taking the advanced exams for personal reasons. The boy, Afin, he wants to work cold cases, and the girl Kazue wants to help test out new Classes." Zeno follows her as she starts walking, tapping away at the screen. "The advanced exam is for special field operations only, so they declined it. They took the advanced paper exam and they're still grading, but there's high hopes out there for them both." Zeno tilts his head, smiling slightly as he evaluates the idea.

"I'll think about it after we help them out – wouldn't want them to get in any _actual_ danger after all," He chuckles. "Let's go and keep an eye on them in case they really feel out of their depth, and then we'll see where that goes." Echo simply nods, and her Mag zooms in front of them.

"Somehow I'm not surprised that's what you wanted to do." She smiles at him ruefully. "I programmed Monny here to lead us, so I don't have my nose stuck to the screen all the time." Zeno grins and nudges her, the girl pouting at the grin on his face. "I know you have a stupid joke stocked up somewhere in there, so can it buster," Echo grumbles, only getting a laugh for her troubles.

They're only halfway there when the alarm sounds, and Zeno gives a hiss, yanking his hand away from his comms. That noise would never stop being annoying. Echo groans as she rubs an ear, before her head tilts up, ears twitching up and down in concern.

 _ **Emergency Notice for all ARKS! Code D has been put into effect on Naberius! Photon levels are critical!**_

Zeno didn't bother to listen to the rest, instead giving Echo a quick glance. She shares it, before her hand reaches up to pat her lovingly named Monny on the head.

"Sorry buddy. I guess we'll have to save the leisure time for a later day. Lead us to those students asap okay? They're isolated and are going to need our – well, Zeno's – help." Zeno rolls his eyes at her words but admits she's probably not ready for fighting all out as a Force quite yet. She'd been in support for so long, he was a little worried about her fighting in combat. They're moving fast, so Zeno gives up his sword as a lost cause, switching to his gunslash to save some time and shed weight. He had a feeling he was going to need it on the way.

 _Arks Members Zeno and Echo – can you hear me?_ He taps his earpiece, sending back a quick acknowledgement. _I noticed you're en route to our misled students. This is Hilda – I was overseeing their exam since they'd been assigned to the wrong area. Please hurry, they're closer to the epicenter than I would frankly prefer new ARKS to be._

"Got it," Zeno breathes out, barely acknowledging her in favor of getting through the mess faster. Black smoke plumes up from in front of them, and he feels warmth rush through him as Echo casts a strong Shifta to boost him. "Thanks," he grunts, slashing through them, following it up with a quick gunshot into the unfortunate trailing Dagan's core. It wails as it's legs twitch, the body slumping in death as it dissolves into malicious black particles.

Not that he sticks around to notice, powering through each horde as quickly as possible. Even being near the edge they were nigh-unmanageable, the young adult scowling. Dammit, he really wanted his sword, but he couldn't swap weapons on the fly like some other Hunters, and he didn't want to hit Echo.

 _ **Zeno – we have reports of a downed ARKS examinee – neither of the two under my direct supervision were injured, but the third you might be able to save. I've send you their coordinates as well as the original exam rendezvous point. Head there once you've collected them.**_ He only briefly taps his earpiece twice to confirm he'd heard and send an affirmative, Echo catching up to him as Monny dithers on which path to take before judging the leftmost path to be correct and boosting his speed to guide Zeno there. He mutters a silent apology, forging on ahead of Echo who gives an indignant protest at his actions.

"Just meet me up at the exam rendezvous point!" He yells over his shoulder, pushing forward. There's far too many of them between him and the rookies, and he knows Echo will take the shorter path to meet them. He skids to a halt at the edge of the clearing so he can get a better idea of their state. Monny sails around his head once, before returning to his missus

… They look like shit, he decides, the girl shielding their fallen comrade and the blond boy firing into them wildly, catching them in their cores and downing them with decent skill. (Well, decent being relative given the shitty rifle he had been assigned)

The girl is healing, so he can't get a measure of how well they fight until she looks up and sees past her partner, a flickering moment of alarm on her features before she speaks.

"Afin _get down_ ," Her words are an authoritative snap, the gunman diving to the floor as a truly impressive blast of flame incinerates the malicious black smoke before him, even as another one coalesces behind _her_. Afin is scrambling to his feet, gun in hand as he tries to aim quickly enough, but Zeno's seen enough, bringing his gunslash to bear and sniping their cores out before they can reform properly. The girl looks relieved, and he strides closer, setting his weapon away before offering the blond a hand.

Just by hauling him up Zeno can tell the boy's built more for being a sniper than a field agent. His fingers are calloused all the wrong ways for field ops, but there's strength in his limbs that can't be denied. He pats the boy on the arm and moves to help the human girl, who hadn't gotten up from checking out the other examinee. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, he helps her heft the man up. She flashes him a grateful grin, and he ducks his head slightly in response to the unspoken thanks.

"Glad to see I got here in time – I guess at least I can use that to placate my partner for leaving her behind." He winces, because he's not looking forward to her yelling at him, justified or not. "Either of you injured?" He asks, drawing forth two Dimate to toss to them both.

"I'm fine," She says gratefully, nudging the woozy but waking examinee into opening his mouth and getting a capful of the drink into his mouth. Afin, who is visibly bruised, takes it with a thanks and swallows a mouthful of it, sighing in relief as the sight of the bruises visibly accelerate from darkening purple to mottled yellow-green. "Thanks for saving my partner and I."

"Not a problem," He reassures her gently, hefting the barely conscious examinee up. Monny has flown off to fetch Echo, and Lyra whirrs affectionately at him, nudges his shoulder. One of the protruding blades catches his shoulder, and he gives a mock wince. "Yeah, _ouch_ , let's not do that again," He jokes affectionately with his Mag, who gives a disapproving little whirr in response. "I'll have you know I'm perfectly funny," He defends, and the girl ducks her head, a reluctant smile on her lips. Afin draws closer, and Zeno hefts his burden higher once he realizes the man's slipping from the girl's grip. "You can let go – I'll be able to carry him."

"So – is this over?" Afin sounds hopeful, and Zeno can't quite blame him as he shifts the man to accommodate the loss of the girl's support. He's already passing back out, so he's going to need the infirmary. And though he'd be badly injured, he'd live, and there were plenty of jobs for washouts. (Though, tanking on the final exam? _Ouch_.)

"That was the plan, but there's way more Darkers than I expected. So I'm afraid you guys are stuck with me until then. There's a set rendezvous point for your exam, right?" Both give a nod, and he smiles. "Great. We can keep moving forward until we get there, and we should be able to hold them off better there."

"Urk – we're really going to have to fight our way there?" Afin doesn't look pleased, and neither does the girl, who is taking a sip of the Dimate and checking her weapon for scratches. Zeno doesn't – quite – pull a face, but he dismisses the boy as a potential pupil immediately. The girl – Kazue, wasn't it? – simply nodded in assent, expression serious.

"You're ARKS, right?" At the hesitant nod, he continues mercilessly tearing through the boy's visible hopes. "Of course I expect you to fight. At least your partner looks ready…" And okay, he really _couldn't_ help the spiteful jab – "Even if you aren't." The boy flinches, but the girl gives him a faint frown, to which he raises an eyebrow, daring her to challenge his assessment. She frowns a little deeper, but sighs silently and nods her head, conceding to his excellent point.

Afin at least, has conceded, and Kazue fiddles with her Rod until it glows, the girl casting something on the unconscious and hapless subject he was carrying. His load lightens, and he nods, grateful. Something about her looked _terribly_ familiar, but now wasn't the time to say so, and he nods his head forward.

"Let's go," He instructs crisply. "We can talk more when Code D is over." Afin readies his gun, and Kazue – finally, the name was sticking – draws her weapon properly.

"Let me know if he starts feeling heavy again," She says after a moment. "I can spare a little energy to recast the Technique." She doesn't seem to be willing to say anything else, and that's it. Their orders are relayed, and the two follow him obediently.

"Man, why did this have to happen the first day…" The blond is whining under his breath, and Zeno gives a snort.

"Quit your whining rookie. I promise, I'll keep you guys safe." That only barely appeases him, but the girl seems reassured at least.

It's awkward for him to use a Gunslash after so much time wielding an actual sword, but he'll have to make some sacrifices for the poor sod he was carrying, and thankfully, despite his awful attitude, Afin was a _much_ better shot than he was at professionalism, easily getting the leftovers and constantly checking behind to make sure there were no survivors lurking behind – not there were that many the way the Kazue girl was fighting around his shots. He'd seen Echo do the weird Force thing where they just… dissolved (Zeno gives a mental shudder because the way she had explained it was beyond unpleasant), but he'd never seen it _weaponized_. Every artful dodge gave him an opening to shoot another one of the bastards in their cores, and he couldn't help but appreciate that kind of function. Granted, she was also caving their skulls in when she ran out of power to fuel her fire-filled rampage against them, and he should probably be concerned that there was another Lisa in the ranks, but she seemed sane enough outside of it.

Afin's cry of dismay at the clearing of Darkers makes Zeno's expression twist into a faint scowl of annoyance, and he thanks his stars that he'd had another option than just him. The girl's expression is strained, but she at least seems ready to take the battle on headfirst, even if she didn't look happy at all about it. He was frankly annoyed by it himself, but he wasn't going to say so out loud.

"It's more interesting when there's challenges along the way," He shoots back, annoyed. "Shut up and get used to it." There's a little more bite in his tone than he'd intended, but he takes it as a godsend when the boy zips it. "Well, it's about the right place, but I suppose she's falling behind," He winces. Echo was going to give him a _massive_ earful for this, and he wasn't looking forward to that later. Kazue is looking around with a frown, glancing behind her. He gives a tch of faint annoyance, though he pushes some levity into his tone. "Sorry rookies. Looks like backup isn't here yet."

 _ **Whoa, hey!**_ Echo's voice pops up, and Zeno gives a sigh of relief, though it's quiet by necessity. The rookie in his arms gives a low noise, and he ignores it. Kazue however, darts over to give him another mouthful of Dimate, mindful of the silently watching Darkers. _**Don't go giving the new recruits the wrong idea about me!**_ Her complaint makes him roll his eyes.

"It's your fault for being la – never mind," He sighs. "More importantly, what's the situation looking like?"

 _ **If you're looking to me for good news, I'm going to have to say it's a no go. After the first extraction the number of Darkers went up – if we tried now they'd flood the telepipe and kill everyone onboard**_ **.** Afin looks even more nervous, but Kazue doesn't even look away from what she's doing.

"Tch." He gives an annoyed sound, before giving the girl an apologetic look. She understands easily enough, seeing the sudden flurry of movement and immediately takes the downed rookie off his hands. "So basically, we're stuck until they're gone." He pinches the bridge of his nose, thumb circling the bridge as he scowls.

 _ **Should I join you? I should be able to drop off nearby.**_ Zeno doesn't quite shake his head, aware she can't see him, but he doesn't doubt she can imagine it.

"There's no point. One of the rookies here is actually pretty good. She's almost stronger than you." He jibes, playfully. Of course, Echo is bound to take exception, but another plume of dark smoke catches his attention. "Okay rookies," He tells them both with a wry grin that he doesn't feel. "This ought to be the last of them. Let's get rid of them and call it a day" Lyra nudges his shoulder, and he pats them, feeling the warmth emanating from their casing. "Thanks buddy," He murmurs. Seeking the oddly shimmering feeling of slick energy, he can't help but relax, glowing white light enveloping his little buddy as they put some distance away to summon one of the stored Photon Blasts Oracle had in stock.

Surprise surprise, he'd gotten Helix Proi, which was useful, enough, since they'd taken care of everyone behind them. The rookies look appropriately amazed, and he can't help but smirk a little. Showing off now and again _never_ got old. Kazue notices him looking and slaps on a bored look, sticking her nose in the air snootily. He muffles a snicker. Afin is far too easily impressed as Helix disappears into the ether and Lyra returns to his side. Most of them are a blackened mass and are already dissolving, but there's still some left, climbing on shaking legs to scuttle closer, claws and pincers at the ready.

To Zeno's eternal surprise, Afin has rallied himself, gun aiming for the cores that he could see while Kazue set the injured man on the ground, darting forward to spin the Rod around and summon a circling inferno to guard him. Duly protected, she joined her partner, and Zeno gives a quick, approving nod at her, smashing his sword hilt-first into the core of one, swinging it around to follow up with a momentum powered strike down, cleaving it in half. His mouth curves into a smile as he falls into a pattern of parry, strike, and dispel. It was easy to get into the rhythm of it, to enjoy the rush of blood in his veins from the light exercise.

Even if he wasn't really cutting loose on the Darkers so he could evaluate Kazue. She was… good. Smooth flow, excellent awareness of her surroundings, high energy pool… she'd be someone he could enjoy teaching. He'd never taught a Force specialist, which was a _damn_ shame, because she looked like the kind who could be good at it with a proper teacher.

He'd do, he supposes. Afin's shot passes by her and stuns a Darker, allowing her to get the drop on it, flames consuming the dying beast as the girl observes around them. Putting his weapon away, Zeno breathes a quiet sigh of relief. It's over at last, at least, as far as he can tell.

 _ **Telepipe coordinate transfer system is back online. All ARKS please return to base**_ **.**

"Good job you two," Zeno offers them a broad compliment, moving to help Kazue pick up the man she'd put down and watching Afin check their surroundings warily. While he's kneeling, the girl's hand grips his arm and he stops as she tilts her head and looks at him intently. The feeling of familiarity increased, and he blinks back his surprise at the fact that she was bold enough to touch him.

"I know Afin seems like he complains a lot," Kazue says softly, her grip firm on his arm. "And he does, but he's a better shot when he doesn't bottle up his nerves. He's still figuring out his outlet, so please don't mind his words." Zeno tilts his head back, bemused. He hadn't been exactly hiding his irritation, but he was surprised the girl had cared enough to actively mention it to him.

"I can't see any Darkers, even with the scope," Afin says hesitantly, and Zeno gives the boy a smile, standing up with the unconscious examinee's arm around his neck. "Hey, partner – let me help out. Now that I don't have to shoot anything, I don't mind carrying." Kazue slips free, and Afin fits in, fitting much better than Kazue, whose height had been a bit of a problem. He didn't need to stoop down nearly as much, and the girl was quick to locate the Telepipe, waving at them both so they didn't have to wander around blind.

"Not bad." He compliments, unsure of what else to say. Given the boy's pleased expression at his words though, he supposes that did just fine. "You'd think they'd find a way to make the pipe stand out more," He mutters, more out of amusement than anything, and he hears Kazue give a muffled snort of agreement.

Huh. They hadn't ended up in a campship. One of the medical personnel was upon them, snatching the man between him and Afin before scuttling off. Afin is rubbing his neck, looking around in curious awe.

"Where _are_ we?" Zeno can't help his amusement as Kazue finishes lecturing the personnel who'd jostled the poor examinee he'd been holding onto, before the girl answers Afin's question.

"Oracle's Naberius warship." Kazue answers promptly. "They break this baby out any time a Code D hits critical mass. We're lucky they didn't just bomb us to hell and gone," She added cheekily, making Afin blanch and Zeno laugh.

Kazue falls suddenly silent however, and she taps at her comm unit, looking annoyed. Zeno gives Afin a look askance, and the boy shrugs uncomfortably.

"She's been doing that for a while," He admitted. "I think her comm's not 100% on the channel, but we didn't get to troubleshoot before the Code D hit." Zeno raises an eyebrow. That sounded like the strange channel overlay he'd had earlier, but he decided not to probe as the girl pulls the unit out and fiddles with it.

"Hey!" Echo jogs up to them, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "Glad to see you made it back – you didn't get hurt, did you?" She's asking the students, and Zeno slaps on a mock offended look, glad for something normal in this whole chaotic mess.

"Hey now, I was with them. You think I'd ever let something bad happen to some rookies under my watch?" He complains good-naturedly. Echo gives him an unimpressed look, and he grins back.

"That's exactly what I was worried about." Echo's deadpan makes him roll his eyes, and she turns to them both. "I know that a Code D on your first day probably doesn't seem promising, but at least you two made it out okay – I'm glad you're both safe." She eyes him. "And I guess I'm glad you're back too." She adds grudgingly.

"Hey." He mutters, wounded by her words. Afin clears his throat, looking a little awkward.

"Um… Sir, who is this? And… uh… I don't think we caught your name either, sir…" Zeno huffs a soft laugh when he realizes that yes – he _had_ forgotten to tell them his name.

"Oh my god Zeno – don't tell me you didn't even bother to introduce yourself!" Echo is less than impressed by that revelation, but before Zeno can even step in, Kazue does.

"To be fair we were running for our lives – talking was a non sequitur," Kazue points it out wryly. "I'm just glad we're alive." That shuts Echo up, and he hastily gets a few words in.

"Well, as Echo's shouted out for me, I'm Zeno. This obnoxious person right here is Echo, though to be fair you only heard her on the comms before. And to be fair, I'm kind of surprised you don't already know who I am," He chuckles slightly at her irritated look, and Kazue seems to perk up and recognize him.

"Ah – I'm Afin, I'm sure you already know," The blond smiles sheepishly, and Kazue gives an agreeable little wave of hello. "And this is my partner Kazue." He gives his partner a look. "You look like you recognize them from somewhere." Kazue smiles sheepishly.

"I'm afraid I don't actually recognize Echo… but I _definitely_ know Zeno." There's an edge of mischief in her tone, and he begins to worry when she opens her mouth. "Aren't you the guy with the record for most classes skipped at the Academy?" Zeno's head jerks back, and he splutters. Echo is consumed by a sudden, mysterious coughing fit that he's _sure_ is strangled laughter. "Between that and the detentions you served, a lot of people were amazed that you made it out at all." Echo's wheezing gets louder, and Zeno scowls at her, before turning a vaguely hurt look in the girl's direction.

"I liked you up until you opened your mouth and that came out." He grouses, watching the girl innocently smile up at him. Afin is torn between amusement and concern, and Kazue simply pats her friend's arm.

"I thought Darkers had already been cleared out for the exam." Kazue places the conversation back on track, and Zeno winces. He'd thought the same.

"Well, either way, today was a pretty valuable experience for you guys. There have been ops go bad when ARKS get caught off guard seeing a Darker for the first time," Zeno gives a shrug, resting his hands on his hips. Sympathy was all well and good until they were too dead to enjoy it. "They tell you all about them in school, but it's hard to explain how utterly devastated you'll feel when you encounter them... It feels like they suck out your every happy memory."

"Whoa – That's not fair to them, they've been through enough today Zeno! Can't you cut them some slack and be a little nicer about it?" She protests, and Zeno rolls his eyes. This was what she got for being mostly support, he thinks to himself.

"Really, it's fine," Kazue interjects, elbowing Afin before he can protest. "At least he's not lying to our faces about it – it really could have been worse out there." Kazue gets it, Zeno decides, pleased by her response.

"See? No harm done. Mission complete, good job for your first mission, yadda yadda," He smiles at them both, and gestures idly with a hand. "We'll be heading back to Oracle's main hub soon, so why don't you guys join us and get something to eat? You two worked hard today." Afin looks unnerved, and the girl sets her hand gently on his shoulder. She murmurs something to him, and Zeno only catches the bare edge of the conversation.

"We're still new… chin up, next time we might have more power to save people." He quirks an eyebrow, before realized they're all still splattered with the examinee's blood. "Can we clean up on the way?" She directs the last bit at them, and he smiles.

"Sure. We can meet up in the shopping complex after you two get your room assignments, and we'll pick a place to eat from there." The girl nods, clearly appeased, and Afin frowns a little, but nods. "C'mon. We've got a few minutes before the ship docks and we have to head directly to the Lobby, so give yourself some time to relax."

" _You_ two can relax." Echo butts in. "Zeno and I need to deliver our report." Zeno grimaces, pulling a face. Couldn't she be a little less stiff?

"Urgh." He whines. "Alright fine, I'm going you damn drill sergeant." He digs into his pocket, pulling out a thin card. "Both of you have your phones on you right?" The two of them look bemused, but nod. "Okay, good, hold them up for me." Kazue pulls hers from her storage, but Afin has pockets in that complicated outfit of his, and digs his phone out, the two holding them up as asked. He taps the card against both phones, hearing a chime leave them as his data was registered. "Once you get your final exam results, you'll be able to give your partner card out to others, so hold onto it." They get a nod of agreement, and Kazue smiles at him.

"Thanks for saving our lives. I know we don't seem very grateful right now, but we do mean it." She smiles warmly at him, and Afin mutters his assent. He chuckles, reaching out to ruffle their hair with a smile. The girl deals with it gamely, but Afin squeaks, and he snickers a little.

"It was my pleasure. Remember rookies, give us a hail and I'll treat you to dinner!" He waves goodbye, Echo trailing behind as he jogs off towards the report desk.


	2. Showing the Rookies Around

This ended up a bit longer than I originally planned.

* * *

Shit. He wasn't going to be late by any means, but he wouldn't win any awards for being on time, that was for sure. He heaves a relieved sigh when he makes it, much to the amusement of Kazue and Echo. Afin seemed vaguely discomfited by the crush of bodies as dozens of other newly minted rookies out celebrating pass them by.

"Sorry, sorry," Zeno apologizes, grinning ruefully at their exasperation and guiding them to the space between the transport and the general shops. "I got us a reservation for a place to eat," he explains with a smile. "It took a bit longer than I expected, but we should be able to show you around, make sure you're familiar with all the stores before heading in. They had an open slot in three hours that they were generous enough to let me have." Kazue raises an eyebrow, clearly disbelieving.

"You got reservations on the _same day_?" She doesn't believe him, and Echo butts in, smirking a little. She never misses a chance to embarrass him.

"Zeno's a popular candidate for becoming one of the Council of Six, so people trip over themselves trying to get into his good graces." While that _was_ true, Zeno's cheeks redden at the suddenly appraising glances he gets.

"Whoa, hey – that day's still pretty far off, jeez." He's blushing, reaching a hand up to scratch the back of his head at their awe. "Don't go singing my praises just yet." Zeno's cheeks are too red for his liking at Echo's words, and their impressed expressions aren't helping with his growing embarrassment.

"A _very_ long way off," Kazue says with a smirk, and he immediately feels indignant. "Palms up," she says, grinning. He blinks but does so, indulging her curiosity. "See anything familiar partner?" Afin leans in, before looking up at him in amazement.

"You've got a sniper's hands." He realizes, eyes wide. "You're a Ranger?" There's a little incredulity in his tone, and he can't help but feel a bit miffed at how surprised he is by it.

"Was," He corrected with an internal wince. "Let's just say I had some… problems, and I've been a Hunter ever since, though I've subclassed Ranger for ages." Afin is curious but doesn't press, and neither does Kazue.

"Well, it'll be some time before you get to that level of skill from a non-native class," She grins at him wryly, and he makes a light face at her in return, though he's secretly grateful for the change in attitude. "So, you said you were going to show us where everything was, right?" The tense knot between his shoulders eases more, and he gives a grin. This is far more familiar territory.

"That's right – Echo and I frequent different venues because of our classes, so we'll be showing you both where both class specific and general use stores are. After that, we'll help you get your first Mags and take you to meet the Lab Techs who head this particular ship. Don't mind either of them, they're very competent no matter what their attitudes are like."

"Zeno would know," Echo says with a grin. "He's the epitome of unprofessional." Zeno slaps on an affronted look, and Echo grins shamelessly.

"I hate you so much right now. Ruining my dastardly name," He grumbles, getting a laugh from the two he'd decided to keep an eye on. "C'mon Afin, we'll stop by the Ranger class stores first, and you can get an idea on what it's like. Echo." He stares at the girls, who smile winningly at him. "Don't ruin my good name any more than you already have, would you?" Echo smirks.

"I make _no_ promises," Echo slings her arm around Kazue's shoulder, the much shorter girl looking up at her in open curiosity. "So, if you're anything like me -"

"Pantheon above I hope not," Zeno mutters, getting a bitten-off grin by Afin, the boy looking away as he pretends not to hear. Echo gives him a dirty look before continuing.

"- you're probably more into attacks that are likely to have an effect on the enemy, and there's only _one_ Force-class shop worth that kind of time or dime." They're quickly out of earshot, and Zeno sighs to himself.

"I feel like I made a mistake," He says to Afin, who just pats his arm gently in response.

"It could be worse," the boy offers his sympathy with a warm smile. "We could be going with them." Zeno blinks, before conceding the point.

"You're right that's probably worse. Haaaa." He sighs out a breath, before giving a nod to himself. "Let's go to the Ranger shops," He suggests, the young man trotting along behind him as the begin to climb the stairs together. "So, Ranger and Gunner stores are on the highest floor of the shopping complex," He explains to his captive audience, the boy almost tripping up the stairs to keep pace. He notices and guiltily slows down, getting a grateful smile for his efforts. "Right here are the Photon Arts for the class. You can purchase them at any skill level, but I'm going to warn you now, if you buy one that's above your skill level the energy drain might kill you." The boy's eyes go wide, and he smiles mischievously, the boy only realizing that he was being teased when he saw Zeno's smile. "I'm kidding, you'll just have a hard time controlling them is all." Afin scowls good-naturedly but accepts the teasing in stride. "Right here is your one-stop shop for any rifle you could possibly want." He stops right before the store in question. "There's actually a store a little further down that carries add-ons like scopes, weight adjustments, kickstands, barrel extensions, the works." He leads the boy past a few storefronts, pointing them out as he passes. "This one here is for specialty ammo, here we have armor and camo gear for specific missions, and this store right here – never go in it, your wallet will thank me." Afin's head swivels obediently to look where he points, obvious awe in his expression, and Zeno pauses, tilting his head to a side to watch the boy suspiciously peer in the last one.

"Luxury sniper supplies? That's a thing?" His tone is politely incredulous, and Zeno agrees entirely with him.

"I know the feeling man." He agrees darkly. "Fancy embellishments are for snipers that lack _skill_ ," Zeno mutters, still offended even though he was more Hunter than Ranger these days. "The only worthwhile things they have you can get cheaper from other snipers, so c'mon." They stop at the fourth store, smiling wryly. "This here is the store you want for _actual_ sniper's supplies. They have everything you could need, including repair units for rifles and rifle barrels." He claps a hand on the boy's shoulder, grins wryly. "Right next door is the Machinegun shop. Generally, people prefer to use the same weapon for both left and right hands, but personally, between the two of us, using weapons with different firing rates are more my speed." Afin nods immediately, taking the words to heart. "It has a maintenance shop directly next to it, along with a specialty ammo and gear. They don't bother with a scope for this one – the fire rate and the recoil makes it worse than useless I'd think." They move on. "I never used Launchers in my life, so I don't really know which one is which. If you'd like to poke your head in, go for it, we've got time." Afin gives it a thoughtful stare, before shaking his head slightly.

"Nah. I'd rather not, and I'm not particularly fond of the recoil on most Launchers." He admits the words with a sheepish smile, Zeno's hand settling upon his head and tousling his hair. The boy gives a slight squeak, swatting Zeno's hands away even as he snickers.

"Alright alright, I had to ask though," He chuckles softly, shaking his head at the boy in amusement. "wouldn't be doing my job right if I didn't." The boy eyes him dubiously, before following him with a little sigh. "So, that covers basic weapons. The next block _here_ ," He gestures to the tightly shuttered gates. "Is for unique weapons only. They're high demand and only in use two days of the week, so if you're really interested, make sure to book time in advance." He leans in, and the boy copies him. " _Waaaay_ in advance." Despite himself, the boy laughs, and Zeno gives him a pleased grin. "There we go! An actual smile!" He's only joking, but the boy grins shyly up at him, and he counts it as a win. "Specialty Units are right here," They pass by the store in question, and Zeno continues. "They're shit." The boy gives a startled laugh at that. "Seriously, save yourself the trouble and just get the materials from the natives and have someone at the Item Shop on the main floor craft you some, it'll save you _so. Much. Money_." Zeno groans, gets another laugh. "Seriously, the shit you find is vastly more high-quality than some of the shit this place tries to sell." He chuckles ruefully, rubs the back of his head. "I didn't have anyone to teach me that," His grin is rueful, and Afin grins up at him.

"Well, at least I won't go _entirely_ broke then," Afin says with a smile of his own, the two meandering back down towards the common levels. "Thanks by the way, for doing this." He says, ducking his head down shyly. Zeno ruffles his hair again, gets another squeak.

"Hah, it's my pleasure," He says the words again, and hopes they'll stick. "I'm not much of a sniper these days, but I remember enough of it to give you a hand." The boy says nothing for a little while, the two watching the foot traffic pass them by as they wait for the girls. It doesn't take long for them to arrive, chatting amiably between themselves about… Megid versus Grants? Zeno shares a mystified look with Afin, but waves to get their attention.

"There you two are!" He decides to think about the topic himself later, when he has time. "Ready to head into the Item Lab?" The boy seems a little dubious about that, but Kazue perks up, clearly interested. "Well, at least one of you is enthusiastic…" He's only teasing, but Afin jerks back, stutters his apologies to which Zeno grins at him. "Maaa, sounds like someone has a guilty conscience." Afin's head droops, and Kazue muffles a snicker into her hand.

"You totally fell for that one Afin," she teases fondly, nudging him with an elbow and getting a dejected droop for his efforts. Echo's lips quirk up into a smile of her own, and he takes pity on the boy, clapping them both on the shoulder.

"Alright, that's enough teasing I suppose – now on to the Item Lab." The fall into step next to him, Echo trailing behind – she's already heard the spiel before, so she's not interested in hearing it again. "So, there's two people in charge of the whole Item Lab. Dudu Morrigan is the chief Item Lab crafter – if you're looking to try something experimental, new, or even interesting, he has the experience to do the job well. Fair warning though, this man is the definition of a troll, so stay on his good side or you're going to suffer a lot of broken weapons because of it." His lips quirk up as Kazue raises an eyebrow. "No, that's not from experience."

"For once," Echo stage-whispers to them, smirks in his direction when he scowls at her for stealing his thunder.

"You got the point across perfectly when he trolled you for a year, so don't think you're getting off scot-free," He smirks back when her face turns bright red. Kazue's head is down, her shoulders shaking with barely repressed laughter and Afin is hiding a smile behind his hand, obviously as amused as her, but less willing to be obvious about it.

"Th-that was once!" She exclaims, stamping her foot against the ground. He gives in after a few minutes of watching her splutter in embarrassment, moves on.

"The second in command is Monica Morrigan. She's his daughter, a bit shy, but she's good at what she does, even if her self-confidence is…" he briefly searches for a word to describe her without seeming too rude. "Lacking. She _is_ her father's daughter, and when she's in the zone she's one hell of a techie, so she's your best bet for difficult ideas or experimental concepts." They only pass by the front of the store, and he gestures towards the large signboard. "This tells you which lab rooms are open and for what you can use them for. Some materials are provided, but if you really want to get in the Chief's good graces, bringing materials in for them will also net you some cash if you're in a pinch. If you two behave yourselves, Dudu might – _might_ – drop prices if he feels you deserve the privilege and you've been in the lab often enough to warrant it."

He _had_ for Zeno, but that had been at least partly out of pity since Zeno had kept breaking all his swords back when he'd been starting out. But even so, the idea of being nice had been planted in their heads. He tried, really, he did. They nod eagerly, and he chuckles, leading them away once he'd explained the basics of the Item Lab to them.

"Now, here's the communal areas." He gestures towards each leading gate, tone wry. "They'll take you to Team Headquarters, if you choose to join one, your personal room, or the front door of anyone you have the Partner Card _and_ official access of. Not only can you teleport to Team Rooms, but there's a general communal area, and in the Main Common Area, you can book a room for regular meetings if you're not part of a Team or taking part in an ARKS sanctioned excursion." Zeno pushes his hair out of the way as he gestures towards the regular transporters. "These two Transporters – the green ones –" He clarifies for them when they appear mystified – "are inter-Oracle transporters. They'll only transfer from one ship to another every hour on the hour. There's two in every major common area, and they each send you to specific Ships. The ones here go to the ARKS Room assignments on Ships 1 to 150, but after Ship 100, there is some civvies mixed in." He lets his lips quirk up into a grin. "The one on starboard goes to the even-numbered ships, and the one on port will take you to the odd-numbered ships." Zeno glances at the time, before giving a hum. "We've still got two hours, so if you two want, we can make sure you know how you're getting home and then come back and eat dinner." The two stop, and Kazue summons her phone again while Afin pulls his back out from his pocket to check his room assignment.

"I'm actually stationed here." Kazue looks bemused, and Zeno's head snaps around to look at her in disbelief. He'd known she was _something_ , but to get an assignment on Oracle's _main_ hub? Either she was lucky as hell, or she'd drawn someone's attention. As an official Second Generation, he'd been stationed here, but he'd never heard that happening for a third Gen.

"I'm stationed on Ship 34," Afin answers, and Zeno nods a little. That's a more normal ship assignment, and he can't help but feel a little relieved because two rookies he was interested in ending up on the main ship would have been odds even _Casara_ wouldn't have bet on.

"I'll take Afin – I have friends in Ship 34, so I can show you around." Echo is smiling, and Zeno chip in, turning to face Kazue.

"You'll be with me – I live here myself, so I'd like to hope I'm familiar with the area." The joke gets another smile out of Kazue. "We've got an hour and a half, and you two should be able to hail a ride straight away – today's room assignment day for all rookies, so the ships are probably transporting directly rather than on their usual half-hour rotations." Zeno watches Echo gently place a hand on his shoulder, steering him gently towards the starboard transport, where a small queue had formed. Once they're alone, he looks down, watching Kazue put her things away.

"So, did you get anything?" Kazue looks up at him, a faint smile curling her lips.

"Just a few things. I needed a notebook for class testing," She explained sheepishly. Zeno gives a hum, the two starting to walk past the green transporters.

"That's right – you applied to be a class tester, right? That means you're a Class Neutral Photon affinity, right?" The girl grins up at him, her smile open and brilliant. Whoa. He'd been on the receiving end of big smiles before, but that was new.

"That's right! I wanted to try everything out. Being a class tester means I can give everything a go, and if my notes are of any use, then I get paid for them. Bonus, right?" He chuckles, stops her at an intersection.

"You're not wrong," He agrees, tone thoughtful as she looks around, curious as to why they'd stopped. "So where we're standing, this splits in three a little further down. Our left-hand path over here leads to the general offices. This is where you'll be heading in for any license that Koffie doesn't already distribute. For example, you can get a class extension, which gives you the legal right to use weapon arts outside of your class – there are some where the restrictions are rather lax, but it's more for regulation reasons than actual inability to use them." She nods attentively at his words, gaze settled firmly upon him as he explains.

"The center path is the one that leads to the apartments and high-rises. Depending on how well you do, you might get to live in one of the skyscrapers." He makes a light face, smiles wryly. "I actually lived up there, but I prefer the barracks, so I just transferred back to a better location." She looks intrigued at that, and he feel the need to explain. "I felt it was ridiculous to live somewhere so absurdly fancy for bragging rights when it was cheaper and transport was better living in the barracks." Kazue frowns, but after a long moment, recognizes the logic and nods.

"Makes sense – though I kind of like high spots myself if only for the view." She tells him, and he tilts his head, concedes the point to her.

"The view was fucking spectacular, I'll give you that." He agrees without any fuss, before continuing. "The right hand side is an actual shopping complex. It's massive, and I mean that literally, the whole place is absurdly big. If you're looking for clothes, furniture, food, etcetera, that doesn't have to do with weapons or general ARKS duties, that would be the place to look for it. Echo barely pulls herself away from the fashion areas unless I drag her, so please don't be like her?" He's only joking, and the girl laughs. "Though seriously, between you and I, this place is a huge cash sink. Never go shopping without a list, or you'll end up going home with a bunch more shit than you intended." Her lips quirk into a smile.

"Speaking from experience?" She teases, and he grimaces, places a hand against his chest.

"A very terrible one yes," He groans dramatically, earns a laugh from her. "I still don't know how I got suckered into buying all the shit I did." Her eyes sparkle with good humor, and they start walking again. "So where in the barracks do you live anyways?" He asks, and the girl digs her phone out again to look.

"Let's see," She sticks her tongue out as she scrolls back through her notifications. "Wha- seriously? I already have spam?" She complains, receives a bitten-off grin from Zeno at the words. Poor girl. He remembered the first day as an official ARKS member had been full of digging through his inbox just to find anything. She triumphantly shows him the screen – Zeno has to lean down because shit she's short, and he bites back another joke at the thought. He had a feeling that she wouldn't appreciate it. Looking down, his brow raises slightly when he realizes where she lives. They must have had _high_ hopes for her.

"Surprise, we're in the same building." He tells her, and she looks both amused and a little worried.

"I'm starting to worry about high expectations," She murmurs, shifting awkwardly in place as Zeno observes it himself. In response, he ruffles her hair, watching the soft strands plump up under the attention. She shakes her head and the strands return to normal, but the action does what he wanted it to – she's smiling at him, fondly exasperated. "Real mature," she tells him, but cheers up nonetheless. "Okay – worry about expectations later, I suppose." Zeno pats her shoulder, smiling.

"That's the spirit. C'mon, let's go to the barracks. If I'm not already taking missions tomorrow and you have a list of shit to buy, I'll be happy to show you around the shopping complex." She eyes him in intrigue but smiles gratefully at his words.

"That's a risk," She laughs. "Taking someone you barely know out shopping. I might spend six hours in there." The words are joking, but it's a very real threat.

"That's why I insist on a list," He says sternly, though he's still smiling. They pass by the first couple of buildings, and Zeno takes an abrupt right turn. "Here we are." He smiles dryly as she cranes her head to look up at the building. "This is Barracks 115. You're on Floor 6, I'm on Floor 3." He gestures for her to follow, and they climb the stairs together. "Here we are – this is my floor. I'd offer you a cup of tea, but we _are_ going to be eating in less than an hour, so I suppose we'll have to pass for now." She puffs her cheeks out in disappointment, before Zeno shrugs. "C'mon. You can step inside anyways, you'll probably a regular visitor anyways." He says it nonchalantly, but the way her expression lights up is _cute_ , and he unlocks the door to let her in.

He felt vaguely glad that he'd cleaned up before he'd left for the day. He wasn't overly messy – having lived in the communal barracks before graduating had taught him the folly of that – but he still felt glad that he'd thought to pick up his folded laundry and put it away this morning. He's barely home outside of eating and sleeping, but if he was going to have regular company, maybe he'd be able to unwind a bit, relax and have a little fun.

Who knew. She curiously peers around but doesn't poke her nose in his apartment outside of asking to see the balcony. She barely gave his closed doors any thought, and he decides that she's just the right kind of student. She wasn't overly nosy, and that was a relief.

"Even this close, the view is nice," she tells him when he joins her out on the balcony, elbows propped up on the railing.

"I got lucky," He says with a chuckle. "I'm facing the water, and I think you might be too. Little things like that make up for the tiny room allotments." Kazue laughs, shakes her head.

"As long as I have a kitchen, I'm good. Student Barracks had a terrible kitchen area," She complains, gets him to laugh.

"You definitely will have a better kitchen than the barracks, I promise you that." Zeno joins her, leaning against the railing much the same way she was. "Let's go see your room," he suggests, and Kazue blinks.

"Oh, right… I actually need to see it…" She gives a sheepish little laugh, waits for him to lock up again before he shows her the best ways to navigate the barracks.

"Everything looks dead identical, so you're going to have some problems if you're running around dead tired all of the time like me," Zeno jokes, gets a grin from her in appreciation. They step onto the sixth floor, and Zeno's head tilts when he recognizes the person closing their door. "Wha- Casara? Hey, long time no see!" Zeno watches the adult turn and give them both an amiable smile, lifting his hand up in easy greeting. "Learn something new every day," He tells Kazue, who is understandably mystified. "Kazue, this is Casara the Second – he's one of the Council of Six." Casara's lips curve into an inviting smile, and he offers his hand out to her, to which the young woman shakes shyly.

"Ah – nice to meet you," she's understandably nervous, but Casara keeps smiling, unconcerned. He's wearing different clothing to his usual get-up, and Zeno supposes they caught him off-duty. It makes him look more approachable and amiable, so he rolls with it, though he leaves the conversation to Kazue – she'll get used to all the high-profile people faster if she's the one talking to them, he reasons to himself.

"You must be new," Casara's chuckling slightly. "Don't worry about whatever scary rumors you've heard, they're mostly untrue. Mostly. I'm not around very often, but if you see me I'm happy to share a conversation with you – it can be rather dull in the morning otherwise." He chats amiably with the young woman, who loses some of her nervousness as they keep talking. He glances at his watch, heaves a sigh before smiling ruefully. "As fun as this conversation was, I did promise to meet a friend for dinner." He shakes his head and offers them both one last grin, to which Zeno returns. "You two enjoy your evening," He says the words politely, before bowing out and going on his way.

Kazue is much more relaxed now, her nerves abated and smile returning.

"That was scarier than I thought," she admits to Zeno when they stop in front of her door. "I expected him to be all serious and stern," Kazue tells him, fiddling with her phone to unlock the front door. "In school they tell us that if you annoy him he'll freeze you," She says, and Zeno chokes back a laugh.

"I've never heard of him doing that," He promises her gently, as she finally unlocks the door and steps in. It's not as small as he had initially expected, but given how pleased she is by the kitchen, he supposes the size is negligible for her. "Cozy," Zeno remarks, gets a small smile from her.

"I should be able to get a bed – my former instructor told me that I'll be getting vouchers to get furniture, so I should be able to stock up tomorrow." Zeno nods along as he checks his phone for the time before putting it away.

"We should be heading back soon," Zeno suggests to her. "Hopefully I didn't just confuse the hell out of you and was actually helpful," He chuckles sheepishly, and Kazue looks up at him, smiles brightly.

"You were a great help, thank you." Kazue ducks her head, and Zeno feels the words warm him.

Maybe this mentoring thing wouldn't be so bad. He leads her out, and the two make their way back to the common area to wait for Afin and Echo.


	3. Unfortunate Encounter

Dinner had been a casual affair, and both Afin and Kazue had been more than grateful when he firmly declined on letting either of them pick up the check, reminding them both that they ought to save their money until they'd had a few missions under their belt. Echo had insisted on the tip however, to which he had reluctantly yielded and allowed her to pay. In the morning, when he'd stopped by to offer his help on navigating the shopping district, Kazue had declined on the grounds of bonding with her partner.

(not that those two needed it – they seemed solid despite only having met in their last year of schooling.)

"Zeno – you're here late," Casara remarks as he exits the stairway, giving him a curious look. Zeno looks up from his mailbox, surprised. He didn't usually run into anyone in the building past ten in the morning.

"Huh – oh, yeah," He gives a sheepish smile, shifts his weight so he's facing the other person in the room. "Taking it easy today – thought I'd catch up on my housecleaning." Not strictly a lie, but he didn't really want to tell Casara the truth. He _was_ an information specialist, and as affable as he seemed most of the time, Zeno had seen firsthand how ruthless the third seat of the Council of Six could get if he felt at all threatened. Casara gives an agreeable hum, reaches for his own mailbox. The movement is casual, but Zeno can't help but feel as though he's only just dodged a bullet.

"I should probably do that myself, but I'm notoriously lazy." He's lying of course, but Zeno laughs – he knows it's meant as a joke.

"What does that make me, a slob?" He teases, getting a laugh of his own in return. This one feels more real, and he eases slightly, knowing that Casara wasn't treating him as a threat but rather as a friend. Or at least, as much as he treated anyone like a friend for the moment.

"Debatable," Casara chuckles, flipping through his own mail rapidly, seemingly disinterested in the contents, though Zeno can see how his gaze quickly scans each one. "Having never seen your room, I'd have to pass on that comment. But if they're anything like your mission reports, you're certainly a very neat person." Casara finishes looking through his mail, before turning to face him. "I did have a question – the young lady you were with – she's new, isn't she?" Zeno glances in his direction, but the casual way Casara is standing tells Zeno nothing, and he's not brave enough to ask him upfront what his interest in her was. Maybe just… ease into it.

"Kazue? Yeah – she and her partner just graduated yesterday – they had their exam during the Code D on Naberius." Zeno closes his mailbox, turns to face Casara fully. "Why? Does she look familiar?" He won't get a better opportunity, and it segues nicely into their conversation, which was a plus for him.

"You too?" Casara laughs sheepishly, and even though Zeno knows it's an act, he can't help but be charmed by how open he seems. "She _does_ , funnily enough. Though for the life of me I can't recall _what_ I associate her with, though I'm sure it'll come to me eventually. At least, I hope so," Casara mutters under his breath. Zeno pretends not to notice.

He and Casara had an… interesting dynamic. Despite Casara's generally trolling nature – something Zeno fully blamed on his occupation as the head of Intelligence – they'd never been on bad terms with one another. Casara tended to treat him quite politely too, saving his snark more for teasing Zeno than actively mocking him.

It helped (at least on his end) that Casara had never scoffed at his change in occupation, though he would have had every right to. He's pulled out of his thoughts when Casara closes his mail, the sharp click drawing him back to the taller man.

"If you ever figure out who she reminds you of, let me know, would you? It might help me figure out who she reminds me of myself." He puts the mail away and briefly adjusts his hat. Zeno wonders briefly if he's ever going to get rid of it like he says.

"I'll let you know if I figure it out," he agrees, heading back up and waving goodbye. It takes him less than ten minutes to finish cleaning up his home once he's back inside, and he wonders what he wants to do for the rest of the day. Normally by now he's chest deep in missions with an annoyed Echo trying to keep up, but he'd decided on a whim to take the day off.

(It'd been weeks since his last real day off and he was starting to remember how much he hated them.)

Eventually, he does end up cleaning his apartment again if only out of a lack of things to do. By the time he was done, he was – to his own surprise – rather pleased with the results. But it still brought him back to his original problem. He didn't have much that he did outside of missions, and it was a bit depressing to realize that.

Fuck. He was dallying now. With a sigh, he hauls himself up and decides to kick a few missions in the ass – not like he had anything better to do right now. As he passes through, he can't help but reflexively flinch at the sudden call of his name by a familiar and _very_ hated figure.

"Zeno!" Gettemholt. Today was _not_ his day it seemed. "I was wondering where your worthless ass was!" He sighs and turns to face the man, crossing his arms defensively as he looks up towards the taller man. Melrondia hovers awkwardly by the side of him, looking desperately like she wanted to be somewhere, _anywhere_ else. He scowls and resists the urge to put his hands on his weapon. That would only encourage the bastard.

"The fuck you want?" He snaps, tone slipping into the accent of his childhood, scowl deepening as Gettemholt crosses his arms, smirking down at him.

"What do I always want you fucking pansy? A fight." He's usually a little more graceful about asking, trading barbs with him until Zeno's temper was well and truly roused. Normally he had Echo here with him to calm him down, but he was alone, and he was already strung out with his own self-annoyance.

Just fucking _great_. Zeno doesn't even bother to do more than scoff.

"No. Jump off a cliff." He's not in the mood for this, so he turns and makes to go towards the mission counter. A hand lands on his shoulder, and he immediately snaps his own hand out, knocking his hand off with a scowl. "Don't _touch_ me," Zeno snarls, barely refraining from using his fist to plow it into his – currently quite punchable – face. Gettemholt's expression was annoyingly gleeful, and for a moment, Zeno was _sorely_ tempted to cave to his request, if only to slaughter the overconfident son of a bitch. It's only Melrondia – Sheena? Sina? He didn't know why she let Gettemholt call her by the name of a dead woman, and he never would – hovering anxiously out of the corner of his eye that stalls his hand. "Find someone else to bother. I don't have time to waste on an idiot with a death wish."

The smug look on Gettemholt's face is wiped away at his words, and he holds back a smirk. It always irked Gettemholt when he said that, and he couldn't help but be gleeful about how well it worked on him. Despite his best efforts, the faintest edge of smug amusement comes through.

"Sheena!" He barks the word, turning on his heel and storming off, Melrondia bowing in polite apology before chasing after him.

"What she sees in him I'll never understand," Zeno murmurs with a scowl. With the mood he's in, going home was shot, but if he went out for a mission there was a guarantee that he was going to break another sword. He gives a frustrated little snarl under his breath, running a hand through his hair. Thankfully, he's saved from the decision by another person calling out for him.

He sure was popular today.

"Zeno!" He turns and is somehow unsurprised to see Casara approaching him. "I saw Gettemholt scaring off some of the new ARKS – I take it that was your doing?" He sounds more amused than reproachful, but Zeno winces all the same, guilt worming into his stomach at the realization he'd probably inflicted Gettemholt's famous temper on someone else. Man was he being inconsiderate.

"Yeah, that was me, unfortunately." He winces again despite Casara not making a move to scold him. "Gettemholt managed to get to me." Casara only nods understandingly, and for once, Zeno doesn't feel the usual wariness that he normally would from the assessing look Casara gives him.

"I understand – the man is a nuisance." Casara chuckles and offers him a light pat on the shoulder. "Despite that, he hasn't yet done anything to get himself kicked out, so he lives to annoy us another day." He eyes Zeno's expression and how it had darkened, before speaking up again. "I know you planed on taking it easy today, but if you're feeling up to it, care for a friendly spar? I'm getting rather rusty from lack of practice," his words are light, but Zeno feels a rush of gratefulness fill him even as he realizes he's probably embarrassingly transparent.

"That obvious?" He asks, and Casara gives a slightly bittersweet chuckle. There was a story behind that laugh, and now he wondered what it was.

"Let's say I have experience in being forced to interact with someone who's face I'd like to cave in on a regular basis." He sounds sincere, and Zeno hesitantly thinks it over. Casara was a right bastard in a fight from the few he'd seen the man participate in, but that was exactly what he could use right now, something to help him blow off steam. He wouldn't feel guilty either if he hit harder than usual – Casara was a good sport and wouldn't complain unless he broke something. It probably helped that he could heal himself, but that kind of damage would probably be best avoided.

"Sure. Though are you _sure_ you're okay with this? I hit pretty hard," Zeno feels it only fair to warn him, and Casara's smile _gleams_ with the faintest edge of mischief.

"That's what I'm _counting_ on." Zeno abruptly remembers his earlier statement and chooses to give him an abrupt nod, looking Casara over. He feels like he should be regretting this, tipping his hand to an information specialist, but he's practically _dying_ to hurt something. Casara offering was a godsend and he couldn't imagine turning something like that away in the frame of mind he was in.

"Alright then. Let's spar." He agrees to it before his reluctance can sour the faint bubble of excitement he's feeling. Casara's smile is the sort Zeno would normally shy from, but he can appreciate it now with the prospect of a decent fight to burn off the worst of his aggression. Casara turns away, and Zeno trails behind him, curious as to where they were going. It doesn't take them long for Casara to lead him past the mission counters. There's a VR Station on every ship, but Zeno had never had the clearance to use one himself, so he pays attention as Casara carelessly waves away people from them both, gets them through without anything more than his usual cheery smile. The few who try to remove Zeno stop at his raised brow, and Zeno watches, fascinated.

"Good morning councilman," The woman greets, looks up and eyes Zeno standing next to Casara with a raised brow. "Your usual room?" She says instead of asking why he was with Casara, and Casara looks pleased with her.

"If you'd be so kind," He agrees with his usual pleasant smile. It's nothing like the one Zeno had received earlier, and instead looks more like one of his usual ones. (Zeno had always been suspicious of how friendly Casara was, but now he had more proof that Casara was faking at some points.) He offers the woman a smile of his own as Casara leads him past, and she simply waves him on, charmed by his polite behavior. "Aren't you just a charmer," he says, amused when Zeno catches up.

"Nothing wrong with being polite," Zeno defends awkwardly, and Casara chuckles slightly, shakes his head.

"But very few are genuine." He opens the door, misses Zeno's flush at the unspoken compliment. The VR room is set up differently to the ones he's used to working in – rather than the simulated monsters, it seems to have fabricated everything else, the look of the place reminiscent of a dojo Zeno had been in once during his training years. Casara allows him to look around, standing to one side and taking a seat as he let Zeno memorize the layout. "This looks new to you," Casara leans against the couch, watches him with an inscrutable smile, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. Zeno glances his way, wonders what Casara is seeing in his curious perusal.

"It's not somewhere I've been for a very long time," He decides on answering. "I've kind of forgotten what a place like this looks like." That's politely neutral, he thinks. Casara seems to think so too, judging by his amused expression. He stands again, and Zeno feels the faint thrill of fearful excitement trace itself up his spine. He takes the first step into the center himself – he might fight dirty, but he doesn't want to be fighting amongst a bunch of furniture. That was an easy way to break his nose. Casara's gaze flickers with dark humor, and he's suddenly _there_.

It's instinct to block, to bring his fist up and knock the blow aside, step in closer to his opponent to plant an open palm against Casara's solar plexus, but the information specialist is as quick as he is, using his right hand to grasp at his wrist, yanking it to the side and making Zeno stumble. Casara pulls one knee up and pain explodes against his ribs at the blow, eyes watering at the swiftness of the attack. But in response, Zeno gives a tight little grin, twisting the arm that had knocked aside the opening blow around and grasping at both of Casara's wrists, using his superior weight and Casara's off balance stance to roll them both back, slamming his feet into Casara's stomach to launch the man away from him. He completes the roll into a crouch, watches Casara hit the ground with a satisfying _thump_. The man gives a breathless noise of surprise, but a feral grin crosses his features as he pushes himself into standing. His smile screams _threat_ , and the sensible part of him knows that he's invited himself to become open season.

(The other part – the part of him that is too much like Gettemholt – is in the _mood_ to bleed.)

He stands slowly, and the two circle one another, sizing one another up and looking for an opening. Zeno spots several, but with the grin on Casara's face, he can never tell if they're real, or just an invitation for a quick loss. Every response is a tell, every movement must be scrutinized before they move again.

In the end, Casara darts in first, a low punch turned into a sweep of his foot to knock Zeno off balance when he blocks. Zeno turns that against him, pushing his arms forward and forcing Casara off balance. With a quick swipe of his leg to hook his sparring partner's, he sweeps Casara off his feet, turns the momentum into a hard movement towards the ground. Casara gives a surprised grunt at the impact, but he's an opportunistic bastard and takes the moment to use Zeno's trick against him, feet getting under his stomach and applying enough force to launch him back and into the wall.

It _hurts_ , but the stinging feel of his body and the throb of his head from where it had hit one of the pillars only invigorates him. Unlike when Zeno had done the move, Casara had used his momentum to stand, pressing his advantage and yanking a slightly dazed Zeno in for a punch. That brings him back to his situation, but Casara dances out of reach, eyes glittering with mischief. Zeno can't help it – he grins himself, wiping his mouth and feeling blood drip from the corner of his lips. It's _exciting_ , fighting someone whose battle patterns are different to his own, unique in a way he was dying to unravel.

Casara reacts, analyzes him during their fight much the same way Zeno does to him, and he recalls – Casara's secondary class – much like the famous Casara I – was Ranger. He was every bit as analytical as Zeno himself, and he relishes in that, surges forward to give his all. There's something different about fighting someone who is picking apart his every move as they dance over the VR space, fists and elbows and knees and feet meeting tender spots – ribs, throats and jawlines, tracing over shoulders and laying themselves home over a solar plexus.

Zeno wins in the end – he's played the game longer than Casara, fought with his fists and his body and trained for combat more intensely to make up for his lack of native alignment – but it's refreshing to see how Casara's analyzes him, learns how to battle him on the fly and adapts so smoothly that Zeno's constantly surprised by his tactics. Casara's pinned beneath him, both hands gripped tightly in a position that would leave them broken if he struggled too intensely, Zeno's knee pressed against his spine and digging in. He's careful however – he likes fighting Casara and he'd prefer to do it again.

(he had a strong suspicion that sending him to the hospital wouldn't get him another match in the future.)

"I yield," Casara's breathless, laughter in his voice as he caves to the conclusion of their match. Zeno carefully releases him, but he takes Casara's wrists in his hands to inspect them for any damage he might have unintentionally caused. Casara's sunglasses and hat were knocked off during their spar, and he can see the blooming bruise that's developing over his cheekbone, blood that stains his lips. "You weren't kidding when you said you hit hard." He's grinning, and Zeno can't feel too guilty about punching him hard enough to make him bleed. Despite that, Zeno does pull out a Monomate, uncapping the drink and offering him the bottle. Casara accepts it with a wry smile. "I had fun," He says after taking a sip, the color of his bruise rapidly accelerating as the healing compound did its work. Zeno gives a faint snort.

"Just _fun_?" He says dryly in return, and Casara grins at him, knows that Zeno's read between the lines. "Alright, I'll take it," he chuckles, uncaps another bottle and sips from it himself, the two sitting in companionable silence as they both finished their drinks. Zeno smiles when he's done, feels the tension easing from his shoulders. "Thanks for the match." Zeno's grateful for it and says as much. "I have no idea what I would have done today without your interference," he admits. Casara chuckles, lips curling into a different kind of smile. It's not his polite one, or the one he'd seen when he'd accepted the match in the first place. Zeno files it away for later, his mental file on the mysterious third seat growing just that little bit.

"As long as you don't mind me hunting you down for a rematch – this was a great way to relieve stress and I'm glad you accepted." Casara's tone is casual, but Zeno would have needed to be blind to miss the subtle skittering of his gaze – normally hidden by his sunglasses – and the tense shoulders. Zeno pretends politely that he hadn't seen the moment of vulnerability, answers casually.

"Sounds good to me," he shrugs, smiles and keeps his gaze away even though he desperately wants to catalogue his responses. "Just message me and I'll make sure to stop by." He pushes himself up into a standing position, offers Casara his hand. The Newman smiles up at him accepts the offer and Zeno hauls him up. With both his hat and glasses gone, Zeno realizes how young he really looks. Factually, of course, Zeno knew they were barely two years apart in age, but the way Casara dressed and acted often led him to believe the man was older, and he supposed that was just the way he liked it. Casara's phone rings, and the man gives a little sigh when he checks it.

"I have to go," He flashes Zeno a goodbye smile, and Zeno records this one to memory, only moving to wave as the other adult leaves his sight. He checks his own phone and realizes with a bit of surprise it's inching towards two in the afternoon. Huh. Time definitely flies when he's having fun. He leaves the VR room and bids the woman at the desk goodbye, waving at her as she cheerfully wishes him a good day.

He was feeling better already. He _had_ to spar again with Casara. That had been the most exhilarating fight he'd had in ages.


	4. Something's Gotta Give

He's in a good mood today, and it's enough of a difference that it unsettles Echo, who's running mission control for him while the regular admins get used to the new influx of ARKS in the system.

 _ **Seriously, what did you do yesterday? It must have been some stress relief,**_ she asks him again during one of the routine missions to clear the area around the VR station. Zeno buries his weapon in the head of the nearest dead Naberius native and pauses, taking stock of the situation. He'd taken the job solo instead of with a team, so it's taking him a little longer than normal to clear the area.

"Why are you so curious?" He asks in return, pulling his weapon free. He pulls a rag out of his storage space and turns the photon emitter off, wiping the black metal clean. "Seriously, I just had a good day yesterday. Went out, relaxed – actually finished cleaning my apartment, surprise surprise," Zeno laughs.

 _ **You. Cleaned your apartment. You.**_ Zeno snorts at her tone of surprise, flicks the photon emitter back on as he sheaths it. (He'd forgotten to do that once and it'd nearly killed him, so now he just… made sure it was on all the time.) He circled around the VR building, and once he was sure that it was clear of natives, allowed himself a breather. _**I'm not sure if I should be impressed or worried**_ **,** Echo's admission makes him shake his head. To be fair, he didn't seem like a neat freak not even to his friends – of which he had pitiably few now that the rumors of his chance for the fourth seat had spread – but they were a military institution, and he reminds her of such.

"C'mon Echo, be serious here," He cracks open a water bottle and takes a sip. "You and I both know that cleanliness is still an important thing. I just never got out of the habit." He doesn't say the thoughts in his head, but a huff on the other line lets him know the message has been received.

 _ **Stop thinking it you jerk**_ , Echo says reproachfully over the line, and he grins.

"Thinking about what?" He asks innocently, not saying the words aloud but just waiting to see if she would.

… _**I deserved that**_ , she concedes reluctantly after a moment of silence. _**I probably really deserved that**_. Zeno chuckles at her tone, before sobering and glancing towards the skyline.

"So, when is my relief coming by?" Zeno finishes his water up, sending the empty container back into his storage space. He wouldn't _mind_ if he stays out all day – but he wants to check on Kazue, see how she's doing. He's never really been a proper mentor before, but something nags at him that he probably _should_ be for Kazue. He hears the whir of technology on Echo's end and hears her talking to someone.

 _ **Not for a few hours. They're putting the newbies to work looking into the Code D now that their one day to get settled in is over, and everyone's being paired up with a newer recruit, so they can get the work done faster.**_ Zeno's tongue clicks off the roof of his mouth, and he stands, wistfully wishing he'd thought about inviting Kazue and her partner. Well, too late for that now he supposes.

"Good thing I packed lunch," he says cheerfully. A snort from Echo lets him know that she doesn't think the rations he kept on him were in any way a _lunch_. "I'm going to ignore that," Zeno tells her, and she's huffily silent, his lips curving into a smile as he walks past the walls of the VR station, pacing carefully around the station and making sure no Natives were trying to chew on the wires or some other idiocy. (He could recall being a student and having to move Agnis eggs because a flock had settled near the vents once for the heat they gave off. He'd felt kind of sorry for them up until they tried to add to his collection of injuries.) There's nothing there, so he continues, waiting for Echo to give him an update if she caught something on the station's cameras that needed taking care of. It doesn't take long for him to become bored again, idly running through some practice while he has nothing else to do. Minding the VR station was easy cash sure, but he normally didn't do it solo – it was too boring of a job most of the time to do alone.

Unless it was raining. Then every native and their mother wanted to be out of the rain and flocked to this place for a warm and dry place to stay. But it was mostly sunny, and the VR station wasn't currently in use – to his knowledge – and so he had to put up with whatever little he could get in the way of entertainment. That meant waiting, and he _hated_ just sitting around, doing nothing while he tried to figure out how to keep himself busy. Training with the same movements repeatedly held very little appeal when he didn't have someone to spot his work and make sure he _wasn't_ screwing up royally. All the same, it's something to do while he waits, so he does so, blade swirling through the air in a steady pattern, humming idly to himself. There's silence for a while, and Zeno simply continues to practice, ears open for even the slightest hint of a disturbance.

It doesn't take long for one to find him.

Echo barely precedes the yelling, and Zeno's already moving towards the source of the noise by the time she can fill him in.

 _ **Darkers. A lot of them, but just barely skating under the Code D. Your two troublemakers are involved. Apparently, they found a noncombatant on Naberius and they're being chased.**_ Echo's tone is dry, and Zeno huffs to himself. At least they wouldn't be _boring_ , he thinks to himself, watching the pair burst through the clearing, Afin carrying a white and red figure in his arms. Kazue bursts into the scene less than a second later, her weapon of choice flickering weakly as she tried to summon the energy to power anything she could to protect them. It doesn't take long for them to see him, relief on their faces.

"Get behind me, both of you," Zeno doesn't bother with the niceties, taking command even as he glances around, looking for any sign of the supposed 'older' ARKS member that was supposed to be chaperoning them. "Where's the ARKS member who you're working with?" He asks, changing out his usual blade for his best – the brilliant gleam of Lambada Arestice's golden edges and blue metal casting a bright beam of its reflection on the ground.

"Dead." Kazue doesn't look too perturbed by it, but the subtle shaking of her fingers around her weapon give away her true feelings as she obeys his order. He hears a soft rustle as Afin puts the girl down behind him, and the familiar sound of his weapon being primed to fire. He can hear the metal click and jitter in his hands, and Zeno can't help but feel sorry for them. Even though he'd been much younger when he'd been forced to watch someone die, it never got any easier.

"Tch. Sorry to hear." He doesn't really have much else to say – dozens of ARKS died every day, many of whom Zeno didn't know. He didn't have the time to mourn them all, and he knew his response probably sounded callous. He doesn't say anything else, instead scanning the treeline for the mysterious Darkers that had forced them to flee. The earth trembled beneath their feet, and Zeno only had that as warning before he's forced to block immediately, sword quivering at the force of one massive foreleg as it impacts his weapon. He gives a surprised grunt from the effort required, levering his weapon up just a bit before Afin fires, hitting the sensitive joint of the Darker and making it recoil in pain.

"Really?" He says, once he realizes exactly what had attacked him. " _Really?_ I leave you two alone for _one_ mission," he complains. Despite their nerves, Kazue snickers. The sound is nearly hysterical, and Afin nearly follows her in incoherent giggling, but thankfully Zeno refocuses on the Darker in question. He's faced them before, and it wouldn't be the _toughest_ fight he'd been in, but he could do without having to protect both of his kind-of students from this bullshit. Even so, he heaves a sigh. "Don't worry. I could use a bit of back-up, but don't do anything to make it pay more attention to you than it has to, do you hear me?" They've sobered up – hysteria refocused into serious attentiveness, and he appreciates that they're learning. He hefts his weapon up, feels it crackle in his hands. He hadn't had a weapon break on him in the field for a while, but the large Darker had hit the metal _hard_. Enough to really put a dent into its durability.

… _Shit_.

 _ **Zeno! Kazue and Afin, listen up!**_ Echo's voice is a blessing, and she doesn't bother with the status check, thank the Pantheon. _**It's a large Insectoid Darker known as the Dark Ragne – they're an incubating infection that takes over a smaller bug native to the Ruins and absorbs latent photons until they're large enough to start eating other Darkers.**_ Zeno pulls a face at the description, ducks underneath it to see if he can find a mutagen core anywhere under the massive underbelly. It tries to swipe for him and ends up with a pincer on fire courtesy of Kazue. He can't acknowledge her without her being under (heh) fire, so he keeps his mouth shut instead, keeps moving and annoying the beast. _**Because it keeps growing, the exoskeleton that covers it needs to come off after a while. Intel suggests that the forelegs are easier to break – they're loadbearing, so it'll knock it flat onto its' stomach for a few minutes. The core should be protected by armor on its' back, but Kazue should be able to burn straight through.**_ She's silent again, and Zeno taps his comm unit twice – if only so she would know he had acknowledged her. _**Be careful. Dark Ragne can infect ARKS members.**_ Zeno doesn't reply – no flippant joke or otherwise.

Normally, he has a team. A full group of people who knew what the fuck they were doing, but he's only got two rookies and an unconscious civilian on his hands and this was not what he expected of an elementary VR base protection detail. A large blast of fire surprises him – it engulfs the leg nearest him at speed, and he grins when he sees Kazue, who gives him a thumbs up. Gunfire slams into weak points, but mercifully stops before he is close enough to get hit – ARKS weapons are basically impossible to kill another ARKS member with, but Zeno knew firsthand how much the gunshots would _hurt_ – and Zeno manages to pull deep into his reserves and make use of his preferred technique, bringing the weapon to bear.

Stun Concido is an oddball Photon Art. Among Hunters, it was generally considered a bit of a joke Art – there's dozens of others that have better tricks – knocking enemies skyward into the air, covering distances in a blink, the list went on. Really, he could understand their disapproval of it. It only dazed a single target – two if you were a lucky motherfucker – but it wasn't going to kill any of them unless you put more power than was worth it. However, Zeno didn't have the luxury of learning these things the way most Hunters did. He had to work for his mileage on _every_ Art, and he'd never have their ease with close-range battles. (his fingers itch for his darling rifle, even now, years later). He'd found however, that for _him_ , it worked like a dream on some _very_ specific uses.

Shattering the weakened exoskeleton was just one such example. It shatters under the force, the black cracking open like an egg under the force. He has to dodge away to avoid being crushed, but it's too dazed to do anything but attempt to regenerate the armor, a task made harder by the fact that Afin was already hammering piercing bullets into the _other_ one, which would double the time it would lay there, forcing it to regenerate slower. Kazue is already burning away the protective shell around the pulsing red core, weakening and cracking it open with an occasional hard thwack with her staff to damage already weakened edges. She skips back once he's nearby, and he uses Stun Concido again to clear the outer shell and expose the heart of the parasite to the air. He spins the blade once to gather excess Photons, giving it an almost mournful look. He'd liked this weapon. Despite that, he slams it home, pushes all his power into the already damaged sword and allows it to shatter in the core without any fuss. It falls apart, and with its' power nexus shattered, the Dark Ragne can only feebly twitch in its' death throes. Zeno feels the corpse under him grow unsteady, and he mutters a silent apology to Kazue even as he grabs her arm and literally throws the girl off the beast. She gives the most undignified yelp that in any other situation he might have found funny, but he ends up clapping a hand over his mouth instead as the parasite disperses into a cloud of black particles, free-falling through the air briefly before landing hard on his feet.

His eyes water with the effort of not breathing the corrupted Photons into his lungs, knowing that it would only make him sick. He staggers part of the way out of the cloud before Kazue hauls him the rest of the way, understanding written all over her face as the black smoke trails into the air. He heaves a grateful breath once he's out of the immediate area, and she's rubbing his back sympathetically, eyes soft.

"Are you okay? I've got some Sol Atomizers if you need one," she says softly, offers him the pills without hesitation. He smiles up at her, shakes his head. The sentiment is sweet, but unneeded – he hadn't breathed any of the infection in.

"I'm good for now, but thanks Kazue. I wouldn't say no to some water though," he laughs, but it's weak. Afin trots over, a bottle of water in his hands, and Zeno flashes him a grateful smile, accepts it. Afin gives him a smile in return, before hurrying back over to the girl. Now that they're out of danger, Zeno hauls himself up shakily, walking over to where Afin was fussing over the civilian with concern.

"Echo?" He presses a finger against his comm unit and waits for her to reply. "I've got a civvie here – how fast can you get an evac for these three?"

 _ **How about an evac for all**_ **four** _ **of you?**_ Echo says to him, and he can imagine her exasperation. _**You do know that I can see your vitals, and you're in no shape to keep patrolling. I know you've got a mission, but I think, given the circumstances, they'll be alright in allowing you early leave. I'm looking for someone who's willing to take over the mission a little early.**_ Zeno huffs slightly but accepts her word for it.

"I could handle it," He complains, but huffs slightly to himself. He could go for a nice… relaxing… nap. Now that he's thinking about it, he really is tired, but he keeps the exhaustion at bay and off his face for the rookies. No use making them feel guilty.

 _ **It's not about handling it Zeno**_. Echo's voice is crisp, and he hears the comm unit flicker so that they were on a private line. _**That civilian… Headquarters is a little worried about her. There shouldn't have been**_ **any** _ **civvies on the planet at all, and the fact that one appeared during a Darker attack is making some of the higher ups jittery. They want you to do an analysis on her signature.**_ Zeno eyes the unconscious girl – she's barely out of her _teens_ , Zeno can barely imagine her being dangerous, but then again, he'd been thirteen when –

The phantom feeling of a rifle in his hands and the eagerness of his youth makes him swallow nervously. Fuck. He shakes his head slightly to himself, vows to investigate it. It's rare that he's been required to analyze someone, and he strides over, gives both rookies a once over.

"I'll carry her," his tone brooks no argument, and both rookies are too tired to argue when Zeno kneels and carefully lifts her into his arms, surprised by how _light_ she felt. She must not eat much, he thinks, carefully folding the girl over his shoulder so that he could keep an eye on both Kazue and Afin. "You're both going in for a med-check. Not negotiable," he adds when both look ready to argue, Kazue half-standing from her slumped position on the ground. "We all need to go for a med-check, myself included. I may not have breathed any of the Darker infection in, but I'd rather not get sick because I didn't check and _you_ two are still new – if you have even a slightly adverse reaction now is the only time we'll be able to really log it – you were far enough away back during your first mission, but this time you both were up close." They don't look pleased, but nod in reluctant agreement. " _Thank_ you. You two can watch me suffer as they jab me with murder needles." Kazue makes a sound that sounds suspiciously like a laugh, and Afin is deliberately not looking at him. "It's not funny," he whines, and their smiles grow bigger. "Do you have any idea how many times I've taken this test? I have scars from them. _So. Many. Scars._ " Zeno complains, drawing muffled snickering as they do so. He continues to complain until the Telepipe that was in the front of the VR facility lit up for them. "Rookies first," he says with a grin, and they both disappear through trustingly. Zeno pauses, before murmuring a quick apology to the girl and pulling out of storage one of his emergency analysis packets.

They were a part of every ranking ARKS' kit, but he'd never had to use it in the decade and change he'd been working for the fleet. He fumbles through it for a moment, but gently lays the biomesh against the back of her neck, waiting until it dissolved and merged with her skin to move. He'd hand the girl off directly to Philia – the Head Medic would remove it and send the report along to whoever in the Council of Six deemed it worthy of their time to handle. Grimly, he hopes that the Central Research Department didn't pick up on it – they were shady enough as it stood that he would _definitely_ feel guilty for painting a target on her back.

He steps through, only to see both Kazue and Afin looking thoroughly worried for them both, and Casara eyeing him with vague interest.

Well shit.

"So I'm taking over for you, is that right?" Casara's tone is light, but despite the blue tint of his glasses concealing his gaze, Zeno knows from experience that the information specialist is dissecting every inch of him. "It's only for a few hours, but I must say – your life wasn't nearly so interesting before." It's meant lightheartedly, and he realizes it's an invitation. Kazue and Afin are tense and nervous – they don't understand the politics, but they _do_ understand the almost terrifying weight of having one of the Six interested in their little mission gone wrong. Offering a method of levity is almost merciful, coming from Casara.

"I remember when my life was peaceful," he agrees dryly, carefully settling the civilian on the bench. Casara's eyebrow raises, and the adult chuckles slightly.

"Oh really? When was that?" He asks, and he watches how deliberately Casara rolls back on his heels, head tilting to a side as Kazue and Afin seem to relax.

"Two days ago," He deadpans, and Kazue straightens indignantly, only for Afin – the warier of the two – to elbow her silently. Casara only graces them with an amused sort of smile, before the information specialist claps him on the shoulder.

"I'll take your word for it," Casara says with a low hum in his voice, though he steps forward – close enough to only be heard by him. "Make sure only Philia's around when you go with the civilian girl," he advises quietly. "She's an honorable sort – nothing will happen to that girl if Philia has first dibs." Zeno can't help but relax at the affirmation of his own intuition – if Casara agreed, no matter how minor, then the girl would be fine. "Now, I believe I heard something about murderous needles?" He's flipped his tune back to the mild, almost cheerful air, and Zeno scowls at him playfully. It's startling how well Casara plays the rookies, and he promises to himself to work with Kazue and Afin on that at least. Though he was doing the same to throw them off, it was kind of startling how much they could be manipulated. "I'll head out now so the Campship can move and bring you all home." He focuses on the rookies then, and they straighten. "Congratulations on making it back safely. Forgive me if I say that I hope the rest of your week isn't so interesting." He disappears through the portal after that, and Zeno heaves a silent sigh of relief.


	5. Belated Training

"Are you avoiding me?" Zeno asks Kazue bluntly the next time he sees the girl. She jitters like a startled kitten, and Zeno would feel sorry about it if he didn't feel a little annoyed. She looks out of breath, and a stab of sympathy strikes him, if only for a moment. He'd used her moment of weakness to force her to react, and when she does at last, she looks surprisingly guilty, cheeks flush with apology.

"I… kinda…" She admits sheepishly. "I – I'm just…" She tugs at the sleeve of her jacket, looking so despondent and bedraggled that Zeno felt another stab of sympathy for her. "You keep having to _save_ me," she bursts out, frustration on her features. "I know you don't mind because I'm a rookie, but I _hate_ always needing to rely on you just to get through a single mission!" She looks so upset that he has to carefully lean over and pat her gently on the arm. Ah. So it wasn't really avoidance – she was just feeling the frustration of being weak.

"You know, that's why I'm a _mentor_ and not just your superior." He chuckles slightly at her as she blushes. "I'm here to help you learn and become stronger." Left unsaid was Zeno's silent concern that something was _pushing_ him to train her to full strength, as though there was some unspoken deadline he had to meet was looming over his head. She looks apologetic at his words, and he continues. "It's my job to help you get stronger, and really, I don't mind – you're a hard worker, and I hear good things about you. _But_ , I can't teach you when you're a planet away." He's only teasing, but she turns bright pink, her tan making her pretty skin blotch with different shades of red. She mumbles an apology, and Zeno chuckles, waving a hand in the air without even flinching. "Don't worry about it – in fact, if you want to make it up to me, let's go out today. I have some shit I wanted to teach you that I think might be useful." He smiles down at her, and she at least has the grace to stop looking so guilty. He chuckles, and that seems to ease her a little more.

"… Sorry?" She offers awkwardly, and Zeno slings an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and making the smaller woman squeak in offended surprise. He glances down and – oh. He hadn't seen that before. The speckled little stars were obviously some sort of fashion statement, but her hair usually hid them. Which was a shame, they made her look a lot younger than she was. Less… tired.

"It's alright my little minion," he teases affectionately, and she scowls up at him for the playful remark.

"I'm nobody's minion," Kazue grumbles, glaring up at him for the joke. He simply chuckles and ruffles her hair until she ducks away, her nervousness abated once more. "I'm an independent supervillain." He laughs at her joke, and he makes a mock pout.

"Aw. I've always wanted a minion. My hopes are dashed now thanks to you." He pouts some more, and Kazue plants slim hands on her hips, trying and failing not to smile at him.

"You're ridiculous Zeno," she says with a small smile, before relenting. "So, what are we doing today? You must have had some idea of what you wanted to teach, or you wouldn't be dragging me by my metaphorical ear." She sounds exasperated, but he can see the subtle jitter of her body that gives away her excitement. She's _so_ easy to read for him, the soft swallow of nerves, the tremor over slight shoulders that speaks to him more than her forced nonchalance.

"You'd be right – I was thinking maybe we could work on your combat effectiveness – your stamina reserves are _shit_ princess." She looks startled at his tone, before a rueful smile quirks her lips up.

"Yeah – they're pretty _bad_ ," she agrees, looking up at him intently. "So – fixing it?" She asks, sidling closer. Zeno chuckles slightly, and he leads her out. They pass by the mission counter, and he waves at them with a smile. They roll their eyes at him, used to his antics by now. Once they're up front, he grins charmingly at the woman running the desk.

"Hey there," He's all charm, and Rebecca – who is manning the counter today, small mercies – gives him an exasperated smile in return. "Any easy missions me and my newfound minion can go on? Something with a nice, wide-open space for decent training?" Rebecca rolls her brown eyes at him, typing away and checking through each of the available mission slots before finding one.

"You're lucky I like you Zeno," she threatens fondly, before holding her hand out. "Phones, both of you." They dutifully hand them over, and she taps them both, their phones pinging as they download the mission stats. "There. Not particularly difficult for the two of you to get done. You've got three hours to clear out a little hollow of Naberius natives. Shouldn't take nearly that long though. Plenty of time for you to drive her into the dirt, but not nearly enough for you to kill her, I think." She grins at Kazue's sudden unease. "I hope you weren't skipping your leg days Kazue. Zeno runs anyone he takes under his wing _hard_." Zeno stifles a laugh as she delivers a wide-eyed look of alarm in his direction, instead giving Rebecca a stern look.

"Hey, no scaring my student," he complains, getting an unashamed grin from her. " _I'll_ do that easily enough." Kazue's expression – already adorably alarmed – turns to immediate concern, and she begins to slowly edge away. Zeno's hand snaps out, holding onto her arm without even looking in her direction. He hides a grin, and she squeaks in terror. "Don't worry sweetheart. I won't _kill_ you – that defeats the purpose of working on your skills." She fucking _whimpers_ at that and he has to stifle a laugh.

"Is it too late to run away?" She says to Rebecca, who openly sniggers at her.

"Sorry sweetie, that ship sailed the moment you chose to catch his eye," she says, but her voice is not without sympathy. "If it helps, nearly _every_ other ARKS out there envies you – Zeno's one of our best, and he's only taught… two? Yeah, two other students, both of whom are Alpha-class rank. Zeno here is actually above them. He's classed as Six-Ranked, or S-Ranked member, despite not using his native class to achieve it." Here she gives him an admonishing look to which he rubs the back of his head, sheepish. "He'd be better if he just followed his native class." Zeno gives a very dry smile in return, doesn't answer her. Kazue's gaze is yet again quite starry – she's getting an inflated sense of his abilities again, and Rebecca isn't helping.

"C'mon, let's go," he says instead, chooses to ignore Rebecca's assessing gaze as he shepherds his student off towards the gate. His throat is dry – he can almost taste the smoke in his throat as he leads Kazue off to the campship. "If you're my student, you're going to hear a lot of shit about my choice of class." He feels it only fair to warn her, and though he doesn't elaborate, Kazue seems to understand him all the same. It doesn't take them long to board, and Zeno appreciates how she doesn't ask him any questions, instead saving her words. He only has so many of his own that he can use to explain, but Kazue is quiet and kind enough to give him space to think. "Still a Force or have you gone on to another class?" He asks abruptly, and the girl blinks, looks up at him in confusion before she answers him.

"Still a Force," she confirms for him, looking awkward. "I haven't hit any major milestones yet, so I'm holding on to the class until I've gotten better at it. Took a couple of notes though from what I've managed to learn." He hums slowly, eyes her. She seems curious enough, and he nods to himself. He still had a partizan or two in good shape, so that would work for now.

"Great. That'll be perfect for today's lesson." He'd been planning on showing her some advanced dodging techniques once her stamina was up to snuff, and Echo had kept him up to date on the latest research in her class the same way he kept up to date in his own. The mission itself is a simple one – hardly the most exciting thing, clearing out an Oodan nest so that the eggheads in the Central Research Department could do some soil studies, but someone had to do the work, and they only ran across a few Darkers on their way, which was a relief. When it's empty, Zeno looks around, evaluating it's worth as a training ground. The clearing itself is nicely spacious, thick trees blocking much of the wind and casting enough shade for them to hide out in if it got too hot. (hopefully they weren't here that long for that.)

Kazue is also observing, her Rod neatly tucked away as she turns around, curious. Clear-out missions weren't part of the normal roster; they were cushy jobs for higher ranking ARKS who just wanted a lazy day or were willing to put up with Luther – or whoever else had hired them for the expedition – bitching at them if they made a mistake. Zeno didn't do them often unless he was specifically requested; he vastly preferred doing something that would give him both a decent paycheck and keep his fellow ARKS safe. But a nice, quick little job that paid well would also keep Kazue happy for now and allow him to train her so – bonus.

"How much do you know about Elemental dodging?" She looks puzzled, and Zeno grins at her, making the girl shift in faint unease at his smirk. "I'll take your blank stare as a no. His grin widens, and he gestures for her to sit, taking a seat of his own as he calls up the relevant reports. "Basically, this allows you to use a Technique while dodging," Kazue's eyes go wide, and the girl makes little aborted motions to try and take it from him, her fingers stilling however before she does the rude thing and just takes it. Zeno sees that and chuckles, sliding it closer so she can snatch it up, obvious excitement on her face as she does so. She's a quick study, before pushing it back over to him, an excited glint in her eyes at the prospect of being able to do something like that. "Oh, so you like that?" He teases her, gets a half-hearted scowl for his jest. "I'm kidding, really. But if you like the idea of it, we're going to have to work on your reaction time. Can't have you getting hit because you're too slow." He summons his partizan and her eyes widen comically.

"Can't we talk about this?" She's already scrabbling to her feet to escape him, and he can't help but let an unseemly smirk cross his face.

"We did, you lost, so start dodging," he says cheerfully. Partizans are his worst weapon in his Hunter's skillset, he thinks, sharply swinging the long bar around himself in a circle, making her scramble to get away in time. She phases at the last second, and he jukes the weapon briefly to the left, before using his superior reach and force to slam it into her side. It won't cut into her – small mercy of being unable to hurt her with friendly fire – but the metal bar was still a solid enough hit to wind her and send her toppling down onto the ground. She's quick to roll away from the next attack, but Zeno quickly takes advantage of her blocked vision, scooping the partizan under her and launching her into the air. She flails – adorably, but also kind of pathetically – through the air, landing on the ground like a beached fish. "Nice try, but until you get faster, you should _phase_. Blocking your vision gives me at least a three second window to deal serious damage," he scolds her, watching the girl scramble to her feet, wheezing. He sweeps his weapon out in a quick slash-and-parry, and she phases away this time, though again, she gets caught by the backswing. "You're missing an important part of this," he chuckles slightly as he catches her again. "There's a delay time when you phase sweetheart," Zeno reminds her kindly, watching her slam into the ground with some sympathy. But not too much, obviously – he had to teach her properly and sympathy would make him less harsh on her. She is quiet when he attacks, but he can see bruises blooming over her skin like ink. Eventually, he has to call a stop after an hour of work. She slumps to the floor, and he picks her up with the partisan, making her straighten out.

"Hey, no slouching," he scolds her firmly. "When you slouch, your lungs can't take in air as easily if you're upright. Stand up and stretch, or you're going to hate your body in the morning. And if you leave here stiff, _I'm_ going to be your worst nightmare tomorrow." She's exhausted, but she still pales at his threat and forces herself into a standing position, stretching her arms and moving on to her legs after she was done. He inspects her work, before moving to do his own stretching. "Not bad for a first try," Zeno says with a faint smile. "Your stamina is still shit even with phasing – you aren't quick enough on the uptake to dodge a physical attack in time – you rely on catching your opponent off guard, which isn't _bad_ but it's definitely lazy work. You won't be able to tell how each of your enemies move at all, especially if you're facing Darkers, so you're going to have to learn to stop relying on their possible predictability. You understand?" She nods, and he smiles at her fondly. "Good girl." He says softly, ruffles her hair as he finishes his own stretching. "You go ahead and head back in. You won't last much longer so I expect you'll be going to _bed_ after this – take the day off – you'll get plenty of meseta from today's mission, and we'll do one together any time I call you for a training session," he promises. Already he could plan out a brief schedule for her – once a week seemed too lackadaisical – maybe three a week? Plenty of time for rest in between, he was sure. She waves goodbye, and Zeno hears a rustle of – something. He tilts his head, trying to pinpoint the sound before he brings his weapon to bear and throwing it with all of his enhanced strength.

" _Yikes_ ," Casra's voice is wickedly amused, the councilmember watching him shrewdly. Zeno rubs the back of his head sheepishly, but he doesn't apologize and judging by the smile, Casra didn't expect him to. "Did I startle you?" Casra's tone is darkly humorous, the taller man leaning against a tree. He's playing it cool, but he could see the faintest undertone of surprise and shock from how close it had gotten. He's leaning right next to the partisan, and Zeno sighs, striding over to pull the weapon free from its place. "I saw you teaching her," he says lightly, tone approving. Zeno's face heats a little at the overt tone of approval, but he doesn't say anything, waiting for Casra to tip his hand. "I didn't know you were that versed in the Technique classes," He says politely. Perfectly neutral – _almost_ innocent enough that Zeno might have not realized he was fishing for information. He gives Casra a _look_.

"If I tell you, you're going to have to share something with me," Zeno says bluntly. He likes Casra, but the man has far more information than he does, and he's not about that kind of power imbalance. Casra blinks at him, innocent. "Don't give me that look, I know you're fishing." Casra doesn't say anything for a long moment, before a smile curves over his lips, intrigued amusement flickering in shaded eyes.

"What makes you think that?" He's playing coy, and Zeno raises an eyebrow at him. "Really, I'm _curious_ – what could I have done for that kind of response?" The Hunter rolls his eyes at Casara's teasing.

"If you're breathing you're scheming and we both know it," he retorts, trying not to cross his arms and show his defensive state so obviously. Casra's lips curve into a faint little grin, so Zeno can tell he's failing in that regard. "Equivalent exchange or nothing." His tone is firm, but he knows Casra can probably find another way to get the information out of him. The older man tilts his head, and he can only glimpse the faintest hint of delighted intrigue before Casra speaks once more.

"Okay… What kind of equivalent exchange are we _talking_ about here?" His tone is politely curious, but there's a sort of pleased approval in his words, as though Zeno had passed some kind of test. Zeno is silent for a few minutes, studying him as he considers his options. Casra has the edge on him, but there's no way Zeno will get him to speak candidly about specific subjects and he knows better than to ask that of him.

"Whatever you ask you also have to answer." He decides on. "And whatever I ask I'll give you the answer to in return." Casra's smile is unchanging, and Zeno tacks on the next bit. "Obviously, we both have to be honest – this isn't very useful otherwise." Casra's smile widens a little further, and he stands up from where he'd been leaning against the tree.

"Really? _Anything_?" Casra's intrigue is palpable, eyes alight with open curiosity.

"That you're willing to answer in return, yes." He specifies carefully, and he can see Casra mulling it over, lips curving slightly in contemplation. This put them on even footing – Casra couldn't ask anything he didn't want to answer, and Zeno would be stuck doing the same.

"Alright then – I guess we'll be keeping this fairly sweet and simple." He concedes, taking a seat on the roots and waiting expectantly. "Will this be _every_ interaction?" He says curiously, and Zeno joins him. Zeno thinks about it, leaning against the tree to relax himself.

"Only if you want information out of me. Anything else we'll have to see, now won't we?" Zeno stifles a smile at the way Casra seems to appreciate his words, obviously interested in more than just ferreting out information, if the subtle way he leans in is any indication. "You wanted to know my familiarity with Techniques, right? I think we both know Techer is your specialty?" His lips curl into a smile, and he chuckles slightly. "After I stopped being a Ranger, I bounced around classes for a few months. Picked up Force long enough to try Techer. They were healers, after all – something might have been picked up if I stuck with the class long enough, but I eventually did move on. I didn't have the destroy shit and run mentality most Force – and even some Techers – had." He levels his gaze on Casra, tilts his head to a side. "So – I know your subclass is Ranger – how'd _you_ get so familiar with them?" Casra doesn't protest – they both know that Zeno's simply flipping the question back to him. Casra hums, his voice low and thoughtful.

"Ranger… suited the skills I needed to learn most." He pauses, gaze turning inward. Zeno politely waits, and he elaborates just a little, words carefully measured and picked to give both as much and as little information as he wants. "Learning to read people is a skill unique to Fighter and Ranger – but the way a Ranger is taught those skills suits my needs best. I'm no good at it for a full-time class, unfortunately, but what can one do." He shrugs slightly, a smile on his lips. There's a hint of careful avoidance, but Zeno's merciful enough to ignore it.

"Did you ever try other classes?" It's a nice segue into their current conversation, and Casra seems faintly relieved to have the subject drop. He raises an eyebrow, and Zeno continues, holding to the agreement with a mental sigh. "I've tried every class – even Gunner," he chuckles awkwardly at that, and Casra smiles ruefully in return. "They all kind of fit, but I didn't match the attitude of any of them until I ended up in Hunter Class. Fighter was a pretty good second, and you said you tried it out, right?" Casra looks thoughtful, leaning back on his hands as he picks his way through an answer.

"I've done the same. I'm not really good with Hunter – or Fighter, though it fits my skills a little better." Casra's words are faintly depreciating, but Zeno tries not to let that affect the relaxed air. "I'm not nearly fond enough of jumping around like a monkey for Gunner, and obviously, I had to start as a Force before I could advance to Techer – but you really are right about Force. They _adore_ blowing shit up for a living, and I thought Claries Claires was bad." He winces, and Zeno does the same. "I'm…" Casra searches for a word, and Zeno takes pity on him.

"Low-key?" He offers, and Casra gives a wry little smile.

"Exactly that." His chuckle is soft, and he leans forward, obviously thinking of a new question. Unfortunately for them both, Casra's phone rings in the silence, jerking them out of the almost… peaceful atmosphere. Casra's expression sours, and Zeno helps him up, watches his emotions play out more visibly before he reigns himself in.

"Hey." When Casra looks at him after reading the message, Zeno hurries to continue. "If you'd like… we can spar again, or even have another _equivalent_ exchange later." Casra's expression shifts into a smile, and his expression seems to soften from behind his shades.

"I'll take you up on that," he chuckles. "I'm going to need it, dealing with this." He sighs, before waving good-bye and disappearing from Zeno's sight. Zeno himself smiles a little, already planning to head on in. Maybe he could get another couple of missions done – that would be nice.


	6. Persistent Annoyance

"I think I'm going to die before you manage to teach me elemental dodging," Kazue says after their most recent sparring session, and Zeno snickers at her, hands her a bottle of water.

"That's a complete lie. I wouldn't kill you because that would be a waste of an investment." Zeno's response is automatic, and Kazue stares at him for it, incredulity on her face. He gives her his most innocent grin, and she groans from her spot laid out on the floor of the clearing. She finally picks herself up, and he helps her generously, ruffling her black and white locks with an amused smile. She tries to duck, but he anticipates that easily, continues to mess with her hair as she whines up at him for it.

"You're a complete pain," she says to him, but it's fondly spoken, amusement in every syllable. Zeno pouts at her in return, but she is undeterred. "You're not getting me to change my mind you know. Absolute _pain_." Before Zeno can respond affectionately in return, they're rudely interrupted.

"And here I thought Sheena was lying to me," Gettemholt's drawl is smug and Zeno curses internally – he'd been picking these places with the hope that they _wouldn't_ be found, but it looked like that was a no-go. To his surprise, Kazue also stiffens, expression flickering into obvious distaste, though he didn't know they'd met. "You actually took on that useless piece of trash?" His tone is rich with amusement, and Zeno has to stifle the handful of swear words that he wants to make use of. Melrondia is looking awkwardly at the ground, and Zeno wonders if he should just kill Gettemholt now and spare them all the annoyance.

"What do you want?" Zeno snaps, expression souring. He can see Kazue giving him a surprised look, and he ignores it. He decides to explain himself later, when Gettemholt is gone. "Don't you have somewhere else you can go and play at being useful?" Gettemholt snorts, rolling his eyes at him, and Zeno can already feel his blood boil at the dismissiveness. Kazue isn't sure what to do, and awkwardly steps out of the line of fire. Gettemholt scowls at the insult as he always does, and bites back.

"I'm not the one who's wasting time to train a useless little bitch," he snipes back, and Zeno can feel Kazue bristle in response as he does the same. "Honestly, I didn't take you for the type to get suckered by a good pair of lips." At _those_ words, Kazue seems hurt and taken aback, her gaze widening with shock. It's the hurt in her expression that prompts him to respond.

" _What_ did you just call my student?" He keeps his tone even, but even Gettemholt cannot mistake the frigidity of his words, takes a step back at how angry he is. "I can deal with a lot of your bullshit, but insulting _my_ student is a line you don't get to cross Gettemholt," Zeno says, venom dripping from his words. The man gives an insufferably smug grin, obviously pleased – and likely just a little unsettled – that he'd managed to piss him off, but Zeno keeps talking, walking forward slowly as he does so. Kazue reaches out, takes his sleeve in her hand. He can see how wide-eyed she is, but he's already _angry_ with Gettemholt, and there's _no_ way this bastard gets to just walk after saying _that_ to his student. All the same, she valiantly attempts to stop him, holding his sleeve tight.

"And what are you going to do about it?" He sneers, his vicious grin growing ever broader at his increasing ire. "You always pansy out of fighting me – so it's not like you're going to fucking _do_ anything, right?" He's sneering, and Zeno can feel how much this satisfies him, seeing Zeno in a bad mood. He knows why – Gettemholt always targeted him since Melphonsina's death, using him to assuage his guilt, but Zeno wasn't in the mood for this. His eyes gleam menacingly, and he takes another step forward.

"Who said _anything_ about fighting you?" His tone is almost pleasant, and he doesn't even flinch as he digs into a vein of venom he knew would set Gettemholt off. "Bullets work _just_ fine against your kind." Gettemholt's eyes go wide, and for a moment, he looks like Zeno had just slapped him. His expression twists in the next second, and he lunges for Zeno, rage pouring from his every pore.

"I'm going to fucking–" Whatever he wants to do goes unsaid in the end, a blur moving at surprising speed knocking him off course. Zeno blinks in surprise to see Huey between them, his normally cheerful expression silent and stern instead.

"I thought I sensed some Photons in distress," Huey remarks, and the words aren't given in their usual boisterously loud tone, but rather even and quiet. "It's a good thing I came by – who knows what kind of damage you two might have gotten into if I hadn't." Zeno hasn't moved from his place, and Huey gives him a disapproving frown. Zeno merely shrugs, sure that his anger was visible on his face. Kazue gently tugs him back, and he yields this time for her, feels her shaking a little against his back.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs to her. "I didn't mean to upset you." She's still quite wide-eyed, expression nervous as she watches Huey direct his attention towards Gettemholt. He knows what he's done probably made her rather wary of him, but she holds on, and her faith in him is heartening. He feels more than a little satisfaction that she still felt safe enough to do so, and he reaches out to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"You're just going to–" Huey cuts him off, voice still soft, but so _very_ threatening on its own that Gettemholt shuts up.

"I did not hear what he said, and as such I cannot speak for his actions. But _you_ came here for the express objective of inflicting malicious harm, and despite Zeno's willingness to let it slide, I will not." Huey glares at him. "Out of respect for your loss I am allowing you to leave, but if I catch you again, you will taste Wolfram's rage. Go." Gettemholt is glowering as Sheena lays a delicate hand upon his shoulder. He shrugs it off, turning away and walking out of the clearing.

"Sheena!" He barks, rather unnecessarily. The woman gives a polite, apologetic bow, before running off after him. Huey gives them both a once over, his expression softening at the sight of Kazue, still half-hidden behind Zeno.

"Are you both alright?" He asks, tone warming as he looks at her. Zeno nudges her out from behind him, smiles encouragingly. "Lady Kazue, I am sorry you had to see me like that." He chuckles a bit awkwardly, and she turns her gaze up towards Zeno, the obvious concern for _him_ in them making him feel awful. He's still burning with anger inside and digging into their shared past hadn't done him any favors, but he spares enough energy for a smile, which seems to do the trick. Huey takes her aside, speaks quietly to her, before looking between them. "Zeno, mind if we speak privately?" He's gentle and considerate, and Zeno bites back his throttled anger, nods politely. Kazue seems reassured, so perhaps Huey could help balance his temper out, if only long enough to deal with it himself.

"Go home Kazue," he tells her after a moment. "Training like this won't get either of us anywhere." She gives him a concerned look, before stepping forward and – whoa, okay, that was new. The hug is soft, and she pulls away before he can reciprocate, nodding quietly before running off. Huey watches with him as she leaves, his own eyes soft with concern. Zeno watches her leave with him, before turning to face him entirely. "What do you need from me Huey?" He asks as politely as he does his best to ignore the angry voice in his head that snarls about having to do _anything_ with him.

"Are you going to be alright?" There's no histrionics, only a warm concern that made it clear that Huey was really worried for him. He manages a thin smile, waves his hand back and forth. He's simmering with anger, but he knows who he can call for that.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just got surprised by him. I'm going to have to be more careful about where I train her, that's all." Huey doesn't look convinced, but allows it to slide for now, obviously planning to do something himself later to cheer him up. Zeno can't help but be charmed by the realization. They had been peers once, the two competing together before Zeno had changed from his native class and lost his fire. Even so, Huey had always supported him despite the disdain others had given him for it.

"Please do my friend – I'd hate to see Gettemholt finally get on your last nerve – arresting you is not my idea of an ideal ending." Zeno chuckles at his dry humor, nods along.

"I'll do my best for you Huey," He promises with genuine warmth. There's still rage in him, tempered for now with the knowledge that he would be able to relieve his frustrations in due time. "But really, I'll be alright. I've got a plan to work my anger out, don't you worry." Huey eyes him suspiciously, but seeing no hint of a lie, relaxes marginally and smiles at him. "And don't worry, I'll pretend I didn't see you acting serious." He's only teasing, but Huey actually looks stricken, prompts a soft smile.

"You're right!" He's scandalized with himself, mutters under his breath. "This is terrible – you must _not_ tell anyone, please, I cannot handle the shame." Zeno laughs outright at that, and pats his arm, allowing his friend to rush away. Zeno smiles, before pulling out his phone and dialing a familiar number as he passes through the Telepipe into the Campship, relaxing comfortably into a seat.

 _ **Casra here. Might I ask who's calling?**_ The voice on the other end sounds vaguely frustrated, and he can't help but feel a little amused that he'd yet again caught Casra at a good time.

"It's Zeno," He smiles at the affable sounding hum he makes, before continuing. "Are you free to meet for a spar, or is my timing bad?" He can hear voices on the other end, before Casra's voice comes on the line again.

 _ **I don't know how you keep managing it, but you have the**_ **best** _ **damn timing,**_ Casra sounds relieved, and Zeno grins to himself, already logging the course on the Campship to head back to the main ship. _**Thanks for getting me out of that meeting, by the way. If I had to stay there another second I was going to set the room on fire.**_ Zeno laughs at that outright, shaking his head to himself. He'd never taken Casra for the type to be dramatic.

"Would that have been _literal_ fire?" He asks, far too amused by his dramatic response to take it seriously. Casra seems distracted, since it takes him a full minute to respond.

 _ **Considering I was standing next to some very flammable lab equipment… Yes. Probably**_ **.** Zeno chuckles slightly, shaking his head.

"Good to know I saved a scientist from your pyromaniac ways then," Zeno says with a snort. "Though I thought you saved that sort of thing for Klariskrays. Ah well – learn something new every day I suppose." The Campship he's in jerks forward, and they begin to move back to base. "I'm heading back in, so I might be a few minutes behind you," he adds mildly. "Bit of a shit day – could use some stress relief." Casra laughs, but it sounds more amused than worried, and Zeno realizes the tone of mischief in his voice.

 _ **And I'm you're first choice? I'm**_ **flattered** _ **, I really am. Though to be honest, surely a guy like you can find plenty of fun ways to relieve stress.**_ Zeno blushes at Casra's words, because he knows exactly what the bastard was implying. _**I mean, I don't mind if you'd like to do that, but I'm pretty sure you're more interested in a fight, right?**_ Casra's far too amused, and Zeno huffs in return.

"Well fucking played," Zeno shakes his head, half-laughing at Casra's teasing. "You are _such_ a damn troll." He's too entertaining, really, and that was all his fault, he supposed. He _did_ make it easy for him. "Are you up for a fight?" A spark of impishness prompts him to continue. "Maybe after you and I can try some other kind of _stress relief_ ," he grins to himself when he hears Casra choke at his brashness. "I'll see you by the mission counter." He hangs up to the sound of Casra's laughter, and blinks when his phone pings. It's from Kazue, and he smiles fondly down at the encouraging message. She's a sweet girl, he decides, typing back a reply of his own, reassuring her that he was okay, and that he'd see her in a while.

Casra is already there, his usual neutral smile shifted into an excited little grin that widens at the sight of him.

"You know, you shouldn't tease a man like that," Casra tells him, hands planted on his hips. Zeno smirks at him and nudges him towards their room. "Really, I'm hurt that you'd do that to me." The two stand there in silence for a moment, before they both burst into snickers. "Alright, not hurt, but really, you should give more warning," he chuckles softly. "So, Gettemholt again?" Casra asks as he removes his hat and glasses. Zeno's brow raises, and Casra chuckles. "You knocked my glasses off last time, I think I'd like to keep them in one piece," he teases warmly. Zeno gives an understanding, slightly sheepish chuckle leaving his throat.

"Yeah – that man is like a fucking Darker," he sighs, rage bubbling back to the surface as he thinks about it. Casra looks sympathetic, offers him a wry little smile that he returns.

"What did he do this time?" Casra asks, and Zeno twitches, expression flitting back into rage. Casra reads his body language and whistles lowly. "That bad, huh." He murmurs, before smiling almost wryly. "C'mon then. Cut loose." Zeno eyes him, seeing nothing but genuine understanding in his gaze, and nods, backing up so they were a few paces away from one another. "Zeno." He tilts his head at him, waits. "Let's not play around this time – hit me with everything you want." He has to throttle back his surprise, expression filling with gratefulness at his willingness to put up with him.

Like their first fight, they pace around one another, and Zeno's body relaxes at the familiar routine and how Casra simplifies his day just by sticking to their little tradition. A fight, that was all Casra really wanted right now, and it wasn't something out of his league. It takes a few paces before Zeno decides he's ready, and he lunges in with a bit more speed than he would normally put into the movement, catching Casra off guard for such a bold assault. Of them both, Zeno was the more cautious of the two, and to throw that to the wind spoke more than he was sure he was comfortable with telling the other man. But it excites him, to see Casra react gracefully, weaving around his strike to entangle their arms together, using his slight height advantage to yank him closer, pulling him over his shoulder to force him on his back.

At least, he was sure that was Casra's plan. Zeno didn't just allow that to happen, instead twisting his body to land on his feet. It's with some smugness that he hears Casra swear quietly as he uses it to his advantage, launching him up and into the wall. It was a risky strategy, and had Zeno been slower on the ball, he probably would have taken quite the hit.

"I'm a bad influence," he says with a twisted smile. "You used to be calculated in your risks," Zeno's only teasing, but it amuses Casra, his breathing hard as he regards his opponent, a smile on his lips.

"No guts no glory," he retorts teasingly. Zeno chuckles slightly, before they lunge towards each other again, Zeno choosing to strike out first this time, leg sweeping out towards his stomach before rechambering it and catching Casra by his legs. He rolls fluidly with the attack, landing in a perfect handstand and turning that into his own retaliation. Zeno has to leap back, watches Casra spring back onto his feet. After that, he's considerably warier – Casra had been predictable before, which had been a little amusing, but his newly improved adaptational skills promised a harder fight than before. They trade blows back and forth for a little while, falling into the easy rhythm, dancing together in the graceful swirl of punches and kicks, each moment between them curling into bold strikes and ripostes, their balance resetting itself back in his favor.

He's managed to pin Casra down when the balance abruptly tilts in his opponent's favor. He's pinned Casra like this before, but the adult twists his body, using his _very_ long legs to hook them under his arms and flinging him off with more force than he knew the man capable off. He hits the wall, and Zeno gives a surprised laugh.

"You _cheat_ ," he gasps, when he recovers himself, half laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. "You used a Technique on me, didn't you?" Casra doesn't look _too_ offended, instead smirking at him.

"I did say I wasn't going to fight fair," he reminds Zeno, and the adult laughs at his words, too delighted to be angry at him. He _had_ asked for a challenge, and he simply shakes his head, lunging forward to return fire. He grins a little, and concentrates. The flare of color makes Casra's eyes go wide, as Zeno uses the very thing he'd been teaching Kazue to catch him off guard, a flare of darkness showing his disappearance. All those hours practicing on his own felt _so_ good the moment he managed to slam into Casra and knock the older man flat on his ass. Zeno's grin is vicious, and Casra tilts his head, before his own smile spreads wide, unsettlingly amused.

"Oh, you want to declare _war_?" He asks, smiling genially. " _Fine_." Casra's grin turns savage, and he returns fire, their spar edging further into brutality the more they allow themselves to unwind. It's _fun_ , he realizes with a slightly giddy laugh, to fight Casra with no expectations of holding back, using every trick he'd ever picked up from every class he'd ever tried. Elemental dodging, double jumping, side flips… he used them _all_ to open opportunities, and in the end, despite losing to Casra, he was satisfied.

"Fuck," Zeno says, but he's laughing, relaxed and pliant against the cold ice that pinned his arms down. He flexes his wrists, tests his reserves. He wouldn't have the energy to break out of the ice on his own. "Alright, I cave. Save me from freezing, would ya?" He feels Casra move, hears the soft tap of feet that was uniquely him. Heat blooms over him, and he manages to free himself before it melts over his skin and soaks his shirt. He makes a face at the already damp spots that bled into his clothing and sighs. At least he'd tried.

"Sorry…" Casra didn't _sound_ it in the slightest, but he feels a soft hand touch against his shoulders, then notices the calluses when one of his fingers touches the nape of his neck, sends a shiver down his spine from the chill. His body warms up as Casra uses Foie to dry his body out. "Here. I can't have you walking around wearing a wet shirt," he chuckles, and Zeno grins up at him, breathless but grateful all the same. "People might get _ideas_ about what we're doing in here," he teases, and Zeno chuckles.

"I'm never living that one down, am I?" He asks rhetorically, gets an emphatic laugh and shake of Casra's head.

"Not until I'm dead," he confirms with a muffled little snicker. Zeno pouts up at him, before sighing and standing up. "That was more fun than our usual spars," Casra says carefully, and Zeno pauses in his stretching to listen. "I hope you don't mind if we go all out more often – it was much more fun than just plain combat," he sounds a little rueful, and Zeno snorts.

"Only because you can win this way," he teases, before shrugging. "But sure, if you want – it'll be fun to go all out against you more often." Casra beams gleefully, and Zeno memorizes the obvious delight for later. "I have to go – I promised Kazue I'd drop by after what happened." Casra nods along, before perking up for some reason, digging through his storage to pull out a… huh. A thermos. As they went, it wasn't the fanciest one in the market – plain silver with the typical ARKS logo etched into the side. He accepts it, frowns at it thoughtfully. It's full.

"Could you give this to her? And thank her for the tea she had in it for me – it was delicious." Zeno blinks at the seemingly nonsensical words, but shrugs and memorizes the message.

"Uh… sure, I can definitely do that for you." He stores it away, makes a note to ask his student about it when he does see her – and now he has one more reason to look forward to their evening meeting. He had a _lot_ of questions to ask her.


	7. Late Night

"So, Casra wanted me to give you this, and he sends his thanks. It was delicious, apparently," Zeno says wryly, offers the girl her thermos. "I thought you were terrified of him." The girl turns an adorable shade of pink as she accepts it from his hands, and he takes a seat on her couch. She'd made this place her home _very_ quickly, and he curiously wonders about how she'd gotten the money before he remembers that she'd been doing her training missions with him. Plenty of money for someone just starting out, especially one used to hunting down bargains. He chuckles slightly at her, and she cracks open the thermos. The fragrant scent of tea fills the air, and he raises an eyebrow. He was personally a coffee man, but _damn_ that smelled delicious as fuck. "What's this all about?" He's only teasing, and he ruffles her hair affectionately, ignores her attempt to swat his hands away.

"I… um." She flushes shyly. "I ran into him one day after our training sessions and he just looked so _tired_ …" She grins sheepishly. "I offered him my thermos, and he looked so surprised that I didn't have the heart to just take it back…" Zeno thinks about that, recalls how skittish most people were around him, and shrugs. No way he could argue that. Her talking to him of her own free will must have startled him, especially with his reputation. "But," she continues shyly once Zeno nods at her to keep going, "He gave it back the next morning full of tea, and we've been sharing tea ever since. He stops me sometimes to talk about our favorite flavors…" She's blushing, and Zeno gives her an amused smile.

"I'm glad that you didn't take those horror stories _too_ seriously," he chuckles affectionately at her, and she beams back, obviously reassured once she realized he wasn't going to scold her. "If it's all the same to you however," he continues soberly, and she becomes raptly attentive, "Casra _is_ an information specialist. I doubt you have any terrifying skeletons in your closet yet rookie, but do be mindful of what you share, alright sweetheart? Casra's unlikely to dig deep, but if you do have some sort of terrible terrible secret, you should watch your words, at least a little bit around him." She nods obediently, eyes wide.

"Yessir," she responds the way he expected, but he gives a playful face, makes her laugh.

"Pantheon, don't call me _sir_ ," he groans, hearing her laugh at him. "I feel _old_ when you call me that – and don't you dare call me _old_." She muffles another snicker at his words, but nods, bright-eyed mischief in her expression. "… No." She laughs at that, a musical little thing as he glowers at her for the obvious amusement. Eventually he allows a smile of his own to spread, reaches out and ruffles her hair, amused. "Brat," he sighs, before propping his head up in a hand. "So – I'm here, and I'm listening – what's on your mind? You looked pretty troubled when Gettemholt slammed his overlarge nose into our training session." She fidgets awkwardly, before slowly admitting what was bothering her.

"I went back to go see if Matoi had anything left behind," she begins hesitantly, and Zeno raises an eyebrow. "Um. Right, you don't really know Matoi… she's the civilian that you helped Afin and I save," Kazue hurries on, head down. "I'd gotten permission from Koffie to search for any belongings that she had left." He gives her an encouraging nod. That was procedure, so he couldn't blame her for following orders. "I did find something – it looked like a broken weapon," she explains, and his eyebrows jump up to his hairline.

"Let me get this straight – you found a broken weapon piece in the same place as where you found your missing civvie?" He's incredulous but doesn't let his temper bloom on his face. "Please tell me you got it checked out," Zeno says, and she gives him a pout. "Well?" He prompts. Kazue pouts, but answers obediently.

"I went to Philia so she could scan it, and then I met Miss Pudding. She ran it through an equipment scanner," She confirms wryly. "Zieg was rather inspired by it," Kazue adds. "I said I'd look for the rest of it, but I told him I had to send it through a couple other people first." Zieg? That old prune? Zeno raises an eyebrow. Last he'd heard, the grouchy CAST was moaning about lacking inspiration, and all it took was a hunk of broken metal? Jeez. He smiles though, ruffles her hair.

"I'm so proud of my little minion," he teases fondly, and she scowls. "Independent supervillain, I know," Zeno corrects himself. "You're still my adorable minion until you get a following," he tells her, and the girl wilts adorably at his words. "I promise I'll call you a supervillain when you've finally gotten there," he says, and Kazue blinks at him, before beaming brilliantly up in his direction at the concession. "Anyways – you met up with Zieg – I'm guessing that's not all though, right?" Her expression morphs back into a scowl, and she nods.

" _Unfortunately_ ," the girl sighs, "I got attacked while I was picking up the weapon. I'd never seen them before in my life, but they were _terrifying_." She reaches up to tug on her hair, and Zeno catches her hand before she can, gives her a look. She accepts his touch and squeezes his fingers in her grasp. "They had this purple reflective mask on their face, and they never said anything…" She shivers, before continuing, hesitantly describing the stranger in as much detail as she could remember. "… They _scared_ me, and if Gettemholt hadn't arrived when he did, I think it would have killed me." She swallows. "And that man… He seemed to be _excited_ about someone so dangerous running around – called it a _challenge_ that he couldn't wait for." Disgust seeps into her tone, and he can't help but rub his thumb over the back of her hand, gives her a reassuring smile. She smiles weakly back, before continuing her tale. "That man made me so _angry_ and I'd only known him for ten minutes! Afin had to keep me from being a smartass to him, he was that bad." She gives a little whine of annoyance, and he squeezes her hand again, gets another small smile. "What did you do to get him so _determined_ to annoy you?" She's innocently in her request, but he tenses slightly all the same at her words.

"It's not something I'd like to say yet. My shared… history," he grimaces at the word, "With him is always a bit of a touchy subject." Kazue peers up into his face, her expression curious, and he smiles at her wryly. Eventually, she gives it up as a lost cause, shoulders slumping as she gives the line of inquiry up for the moment. What a sweet girl, he thinks fondly, squeezes her hand. "I'll tell you someday," he promises, and that sates her for the moment, the girl endearingly convinced by his words. She was so _trusting_ , Zeno thinks with fondness, pets her head affectionately. She shakes her head like a puppy when he does that, and it makes him grin at her as she tries to shake away the annoyance. She huffs, but it's hardly loud enough for her to truly be offended. She's learning to put up with it, so he takes that as a win, even when she pouts at him. She's silent for a while, before awkwardly continuing.

"After… he'd left, Afin and I went back to doing regular work – thanks, by the way, for setting up that client order," she adds almost as an afterthought. "I think you're the only one that didn't require me to write paperwork though," she complains, and he chuckles a little.

"That's because I don't like having to read or sign off on it myself," Zeno admits, laughing when she pouts some more. "How about this – tomorrow morning, I can set a client order for you, and I'll walk you through the paperwork side of it." He smiles ruefully at her, and she puffs her cheeks out, but accepts his offer with an eager nod. "honestly, I hate doing paperwork, but I can do it pretty well, surprise surprise." She laughs at that, just like he intended, and he grins back at her. "Truthfully paperwork is just a hassle when it's a client order. Only official paperwork actually _needs_ it." She nods along, and he stands up with a groan, stretching himself out. "Aaaight sweetheart, I'm heading in for the night. Don't go causing trouble would you? I'm having a hard enough time not worrying about you without you going off and suddenly running into Gettemholt without me around." He doesn't even mention the monster – he knew he wouldn't be having pleasant dreams about _that_ thing chasing after his student tonight.

By the time he goes to bed, he knows he's in for a rough night.

* * *

 _Smoke curls from his lungs like a living thing, wraps around his ribs in vicious claws, his laughter delirious. It sounds like him now, not like himself back then, thirteen and barely able to speak without his voice cracking embarrassingly. It feels like he's here, watching the death he'd caused, and he's…_ enjoying _this all. It's sick, how the smoke holds him in place, and he sees a vision of what he could have been. Cold. Calculating. All he can taste is the darkness within and it tastes like rust and salt. He can see how cold he is, smiling to their faces. He's still a Hunter, but he's numb to it. Just a lie, a cover-up for what he was in the dark. He watches the sun fall and simulated night accrue over the chill of the city, as he sheds his Class like a jacket, slips into the tainted role of Ranger._

 _Of Sniper_.

* * *

Zeno wakes up with a gasp. His heart's racing, skin clammy with a layer of fear sweat as he sits up, body quivering from the feeling. Shit. _Shit_. He'd gone weeks without that fucking nightmare, why _now?_ He laments silently, fishing around for his phone to check the time. He'd expected something related to his student, not in relation to _his_ past.

0300 blinks cheerily at him and he groans, annoyed. There was no way he was going back to sleep, not with _that_ bullshit nightmare ready to just take him where it left off. He forces himself out of bed, makes himself a cup of the strongest, darkest coffee he can, and decides to try and face the day. Maybe a few missions would wear him out long enough to sleep properly when he came back home… or something. Kazue's dead to the world at this hour most likely – at least, he hopes his student doesn't have nightmares like him. She doesn't seem the type to have them now, but he'd only been teaching her properly for a few weeks – she wouldn't tell him if she did. He fills his largest thermos full of hot coffee, and he takes a scalding mouthful to slap himself into alertness as he leaves his home.

It's somewhat of a surprise then, to see Casra stumbling down the hall, rubbing his eyes free of sleep and holding an equally large – and familiar – thermos of tea in his hands. Casra looks equally surprised to see him up, and he's slow to hide his expression. Zeno doesn't bother hiding his surprise, doesn't think it's worth it at bitch o'clock in the morning. But Casra is always wary – always alert. Even if he is a little slower about it at such an early hour. Sometimes he wonders why Casra is so guarded, even among those he calls his friends.

"At least I'm not the only one up at bitch o'clock," Zeno sighs, watches Casra's lips twitch a little; he doesn't seem to know whether to smile or frown. In the end, he settles on allowing the faintest of smiles to cross his face, taking a sip of his tea and joining him to walk down the stairs.

"Bitch o'clock?" Casra sounds vaguely amused, but he mostly sounds tired. Zeno can feel the weariness in his voice, and replies flippantly, tries to bring up his mood even if it was only a little.

"It's early as shit. I'm going to bitch about it. Bitch o'clock," he shrugs, and Casra does laugh this time, soft, but with genuine emotion in it.

"I'm going to borrow that from you," Casra's voice is different when he's tired. A slow, slipping cadence that sounds almost like a _purr_ rather than his usual, precise tones. It's nice, to see him acting a little more normal. "It's perfect." Zeno chuckles ruefully at that.

"I don't know about perfect… but it does the job." Mail isn't available yet, so they pass it by, stepping into the city and admiring it in the darkness. It's rare for anyone in the city to be up and about at this hour, so the lamps are low, giving the whole place a soft, almost ethereal look to it. They walk together in silence, and Zeno wonders how it became so comfortable for him to be side-by-side with him. Before this whole thing had started, Zeno had always held Casra at a distant reverence. The Enigmatic Third Hero, the quiet wielder of Florenberg, king of the Intelligence department. He always seemed too busy or involved in something – he'd never wanted to bother him. It was different from Huey's overeagerness; unique from Klariskrays's terrifying violence. Even being personally cared for by Maria and Regius, they had never felt the same as Casra. He was in a league of his own, and that made him… intimidating. He turns back to his cup of coffee, the two meandering their way up towards the mostly deserted Class Shops.

"Thank you." The words are soft, and Zeno looks up, bemused. Casra isn't looking at him, nor does he really seem like he'd said anything either. He's sipping at his tea, expression unreadable. Zeno watches him, before nodding.

"You're welcome." He doesn't look when Casra chooses to glance his way, gives him the same privacy he'd been given in return. There's nothing left to be said – they're both up, and while Zeno would bet it was a nightmare, he didn't want to have to open that can of worms because then he'd have to explain his own. They'd reached a tentative sort of friendship through their sparring sessions and occasional conversations, but even then, this was too personal to share. The mission desk is dead, only a few stragglers taking late shifts or moving on to the Mining Base to relieve other ARKS of their tasks. They pass by the usual steps, and it doesn't take Zeno too long to realize that Casra was taking them to their sparring room. It's not a bad choice, all things considered. Anywhere else they're bound to be spotted, and Casra hadn't made a big deal of it, but he's pretty sure that being seen with him would send the rumors of him being the new 4th seat back into the spotlight again.

 _A nagging voice in his head insists that these developments are meant to be secret_.

Casra slumps into a chair immediately, and Zeno doesn't miss how exhausted he seems. He joins him, leaning against the couch and allowing himself to stay with him for the moment.

"Don't go." Casra says suddenly when he shifts, about to stand. "Please." Zeno's getting _really_ curious at this point, but it isn't like him to just deny a request, and so he sits back down next to Casra, feels the other man's head land on his shoulder as he sighs softly. It's completely quiet, and Zeno rests his head on top of Casra's own.

In a few hours, he'll have to make a client order for himself and Kazue. In a few hours, he'll have to pretend his nightmare never happened, and that he's okay. But for now, he lets himself relax, lay his head atop Casra's own, and drink his coffee in silence.


	8. Overdue Explanations

I'm not going to lie I am very surprised anyone is reading this. I guess dem wordcounts got to you.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Kazue's small voice brings him out of his thoughts, and he blinks. Another blink brings him out of his narrowed awareness, and he realizes the battlefield is completely clear of enemies. He'd killed them all, almost without meaning to, and _definitely_ without her managing to get a hit in. Part of him wants to snap at her, to tell her to mind her own business, but he can't just do that to her, especially when it's so obvious how worried for him she is. Kazue is a sweet girl, a _caring_ girl. Being rude to someone for being genuinely concerned about him was complete anathema. He sighs and stabs his sword into the dirt and gestures for her to seat herself.

"Sit." He sighs, following his own words and sitting down on the ground, leaning against the spine of his blade. "I guess I didn't leave you anything to kill, did I…" Kazue shakes her head, looks torn between asking and leaving the subject alone. "I guess you can already tell that yesterday was more bothersome than I admitted to." Zeno's dry tone makes her smile weakly, but she nods in response to his words.

"I didn't want to ask," she admits, fingertips poking at a hole in her shirt. "It had to be painful for it to bother you – you always seem so carefree…" Her awkwardness is endearing, but he hears what she's not saying. She is desperately curious, but she doesn't dare to ask, doesn't dare to presume she has the right. Zeno appreciates that far more than he thinks the girl realizes. He reaches out and ruffles her hair, and she doesn't push him away this time, green eyes watching him in open concern.

"C'mere." He opens his arms, and the girl gratefully swoops in, arms wrapping around his waist as her small frame settles into his own, head tucking into his chest. She's impossibly fragile in his grasp – smaller and more birdlike in her structure, though her skin hums with the weight of the photons under her skin. He feels her power, ruffles her hair to distract himself from the fact that she had grown in ways he hadn't intended. "Are you sure sweetheart? It's a long – and not very happy – kind of story." She nods against his chest, squeezes him tighter as though to reassure him. Though it doesn't, he appreciates the effort given to make him feel at least a little bit better. She scoots back, but only enough so she's tucked into his side, leaning against the blade with him. He huffs a breath of air, ruffles the soft strands. She's quiet as he thinks to himself, how much he wants to tell her and how little he can get away with. He stops, shakes his head. She's waiting, patient and understanding all at once in a way that makes him want to tell her the whole story.

Who had he ever told the full story? Even Regius, who had pulled him aside after that awful day and had hugged him to within an inch of his life didn't know. Maria had watched what he'd done, had squeezed his shoulder and tried to comfort him. But they didn't _know_.

"I used to like being a Ranger." His voice sounds distant, even to his own ears, but Kazue looks up, pays him attention that he wishes she wouldn't. "Back when I was thirteen, I was top of my class, ahead of everyone to the point that even accelerated classes bored me. Only Huey was ever really close to me, and even he could get overwhelmed. I never had that problem – I was too eager, too ready for a fight. I thought I could handle it." He huffs a bittersweet little laugh. "It was Sensei that helped me. She was the best – taught me a lot of things I didn't think I'd need, showed me how to fight, how to control myself." His smile turns fond. "She used to tease me too – for skipping class so much, told me I'd one day be famous for it and that I'd be so embarrassed when it came true." He laughs ruefully, and Kazue leans into him, offers her support as best as she can for him. He plants a kiss on her forehead, smiles down at his considerate little student. "Man, she'd laugh at me so hard if she was here now…" his smile fades. "She disappeared after Apprentice attacked the city – I never saw her again…" His tone turns wistful. "I hope she's okay though." He shakes himself out of his thoughts, continues. "Maa… I got side-tracked." He winces as he continues.

"I was skipping class on the day Apprentice came a'calling." A bittersweet smirk curls his lips, and Kazue can sense his bad mood, but doesn't edge away like he expected. She holds on gamely, offers what little reassurance she can for him, and that calms him down long enough to continue. "I met Gettemholt then. He'd been a bit of a star in his younger days – the original candidate for Wolfram, a bit hot-tempered, but friendly. He'd been a lot like Huey, if Huey could control his volume on a good day." His lips twitch into a tiny smile, and Kazue smiles with him, knows he's trying to make a light-hearted joke even as it fails. "Back then, he was friends with two women. Melphonsina and her twin, Melrondia." He chuckles bitterly. "When Apprentice came, she targeted the Academy, and like a fool, I wanted to go there, to run the risk of dying for _glory_ ," he bites the words out, shoulders hunching in as he remembers his own eagerness. "Gettemholt was the reasonable one out of us both. He wanted to get us to the city centre, evacuate civvies." He gives a bittersweet little noise. "You know, like a reasonable person." Kazue squeezes his bicep and he manages a rueful smile down at her, allows his head to drop on top of hers for a moment, the action echoing this morning's quiet contemplation with Casra. Eventually he raises his head, if only to keep speaking.

"I was ranged support – they didn't have a Ranger in their group, so I had to be as quick on the draw as possible to kill any Darkers that they couldn't see – and even some they did." Something in his mind _itches_ , but he ignores it. "We found another ARKS – I don't remember her name at all, only that she was powerful and a Force. She was doing her best to stop Apprentice, and we ended up getting caught along for the ride." Zeno's fingertips pat the top of Kazue's head, and she doesn't do anything but nudge herself closer to him. What a sweet girl she is. He tucks her into his arms, continues on his train of thought. "I was good, _really_ good at catching Darkers, and the fact that I was able to defend them from a distance was making me into a cocky fucker. I don't think Apprentice appreciated that," he laughs bitterly. "She overwhelmed me with Darkers, long enough that I ended up making a mistake. Gettemholt and Melrondia had gotten split from Melphonsina and the other Force girl." He bites his lower lip, closes his eyes. "Gettemholt and Rondia needed my help more – at least, I thought so."

"It was a ploy. Once I was too busy to help Sina and the other girl, Apprentice saw her chance and went after them both. I spent too much time trying to protect Gettemholt and Rondia. In the end, I spotted the Darker by chance." His smile becomes bitter. "Obviously, I tried to stop it, but I misjudged the shot." He considers it a good sign that Kazue hasn't yet pulled away from him, though she's tense. "I killed her." His voice is soft. "Or at least, if I didn't kill her, the Darker finished the job I started." His head drops down again, and he continues. "I fooled myself for a while, tried to convince myself that maybe it was the Darker who did it, took advantage of Sina trying to help the Force girl." His eyes close tightly, takes a shuddering breath. "I managed that for a week before they recalled all weapons and installed the friendly fire program into them." Kazue hasn't shifted away from him, her green eyes round with shock, but not making any movements away from him in what he would have expected. She's staring at him, and he keeps going, carefully unleashes her from his grip. "I couldn't… I couldn't fool myself any longer after that." He buries his head in his hands, hides his face from her so he doesn't have to see her disgust or her pity. Her fingers curl around his own, and he can feel the rough calluses that he'd helped put there, the long hours of training that they'd worked on together enough to show in her touch. But she doesn't force his hands away from his face, her tugs gentle as she tries to get him to look at her.

"It's not your fault." She says the words very sternly, and when he opens his mouth to argue, she shakes the hands in her grip, silences him. "I'll prove it." She seems so convinced that she'll find proof of his innocence, her firm gaze unwavering even as he stares back. She lets go of his hands, and flings her arms around him in a hug, squeezes him tightly even as he pulls her into his lap, burying his head into her shoulder. They're tightly tangled together in a mess of limbs and warmth, and Zeno doesn't quite cry, but his hitched breath is noticeable. Kazue squeezes him tighter, and for a moment, it's alright. She doesn't seem to hold it against him. They're still leaned up against his weapon, so after a moment, he makes a little noise of discomfort. That seems to pull her from his grip, and she tugs him back to standing up. "Let's finish up here," she tells him, holds his hand tightly within her own. "And then I'll go looking for proof, okay?" He accepts her words, rubs his eyes slightly until they're dry, and leans over to press a light kiss to her head.

"You're too good for me," he murmurs against the white strands, allows her to hold his hand even as he retrieves his weapon and prepares to finish their mission. Kazue has to let go then, and he lets her take point, his troubled thoughts mulling together in a single curl of thought. He keeps an eye on her all the same, his own story still ringing in his ears of his failure to keep his eyes on an important friend. She looks back sometimes, waves at him until he waves back, a weak smile on his lips. She stops murdering Darkers long enough to run back over, wrapping her arms around his waist and – _oof!_ – delivers another tight hug to him before running back out to do her client order. He smiles more genuinely at her for that, and she waves again whenever she sees his smile.

It takes a while to get back into the rhythm, calls out advice for her, little tips on how she holds the Talis she'd chosen for the day's exercise, occasionally delivers praise to her that she receives with a beaming grin. It's not okay, not by a long shot, but having told her had relieved him of some weight that he hadn't quite realized was carried in him. She's back to her adorably murderous self, and he lightly scolds her here and there when she goes too far away from him. She obediently bounces her way back over each time, beams up at him and he chuckles fondly, ruffles her hair.

She knew. And she didn't _care_. That was more of a blessing than he could have ever hoped for. When he draws level with her, Kazue is silently staring at the clearing, tugging on her sleeve as she waits for him.

"Mission's almost done," She says reluctantly, and he understands what she's not saying in that moment. He thinks about her words, and the awkward shuffle of her feet. "… Do… you want to visit?" She asks awkwardly, and he blinks. That was basically the opposite of what he expected, but it was obvious she didn't want to leave him alone. His lips curve into a small smile, and he lays a hand on her shoulder.

"I think I'd like that," Zeno agrees softly, squeezes her shoulder with the gentlest touch he could manage. She beams at him, obviously pleased by his words, and he briefly wonders what it's like, to have such faith in people like she clearly did. He slings his arm over her shoulder, the two passing through the telepipe together like that, Kazue tucked up against his side the way she had been when he'd confessed the truth. She pulls out her tablet, and he quietly instructs her, word for word, on how to write a client order. He goes through the three structures, explains to her how sample collection, monster kills, and wildlife observation worked, along with the few on their particular ship that handed out specialty orders would come along now and again. For each one, he offered her examples of his own work, to which she accepted happily, reading each one and carefully crafting her own with his advice. She turns in her final report to the mission counter, and Faina raises a challenging eyebrow at him. He realizes then, that his arm is still draped over her shoulders. He shrugs instead, gives an easy little smile as though it was no big deal, even though he knew that ARKs would be gossiping about it by the time dinner rolled around.

Kazue herself doesn't notice until she meets Faina's eyes, her cheeks coloring a brilliant scarlet when she realizes why everyone's staring at her. She ducks her head, and Zeno chuckles slightly, dips his head down to murmur into her ear, setting the gossips in the mission counter off in a flurry.

"C'mon. I believe you wanted to invite me somewhere?" He's quiet enough that no nosy brats can hear, but his lips twitch up into a smile as his hushed conversation spreads like fire – thank god nobody could see his mouth and read his lips. She's horribly embarrassed for them both, but he can only feel a sense of… relief. Kazue nods all the same, reduced to her taciturn self in the face of so many stares. They walk together to the barracks, and once they've passed through the teleporter that divided the business from the mission center, nobody is staring at them. Zeno knows she's mortified, and so he tries to ease the mood for her just the way she had for him back on Naberius.

"How's your dodging coming along?" He says, just to fill the silence. "You said you were working with your partner, right? Afin?" Kazue gives him a grateful little smile for trying to change the subject, and she gives a tiny nod, tucks her hands in her own pockets as she speaks.

"I'm getting faster. Afin's gotten better at target practice too," she says cautiously, and Zeno knows why she's so careful, appreciates it all the more now that he knows she understands his wariness of shooting her. He'd flatly declined continuing through that method, but thankfully Afin had stepped in, ever the good sport. Now that she knew, her tone was only understanding, not upset. She didn't ask it of him, and he didn't offer to take her back from Afin. "I've managed to drop it to a half-second delay between phases – I'm not sure how much faster I can do it," she confesses, and he ruffles her hair gently, smiles when she makes no move to push his hand away, instead laying one of her own atop his, despite the awkwardness of the position. They're at the building, and Zeno wonders if he could schedule his appearances, with the way a casually smiling Casra appears before them. He manages a wan smile to them both, and Zeno returns his half-smile with a soft nod of his own. He greets Kazue with obvious fondness, the information specialist offering Kazue back her thermos and thanking her for the tea. His gaze lingers on Zeno's hand, but he makes no overt questions, asks for no explanations and they offer none.

"If you ever would like – and Zeno doesn't mind," Casra says suddenly, making them both look at him in surprise, "I wouldn't mind stopping by to offer you a hand on the finer points of Talis use." Kazue is quite clearly touched by the gesture, and she looks over to Zeno for his own thoughts. He ruffles Kazue's hair to distract the girl, shoots Casra a look that he knows the man can't miss the meaning of. Casra smiles innocently, tilts his head and makes a gesture with the hand out of her sight. It's only the faintest tilt of his fingers from one side to another but it's a familiar handsign. He hadn't used Ranger sign language in an age, but he could easily remember the slang that he'd used often in the field.

 _Curiosity_. Casra was as curious as a cat, but at least he wasn't hiding his intentions from Zeno, which he greatly appreciated and frankly much preferred. He takes a moment to think about it, of whether he really wants Kazue's skills exposed to Casra, but after a moment, he recalls the open exchange, the quiet morning spent together. Casra had not asked him to stay the second time, had quietly respected his wishes when he had moved to go and take care of what had to be done with Kazue for the day. There was respect there, faint as it was, and Zeno was pleased with it.

"Sure, why not," Zeno shrugs and tries to ignore how Kazue beams up at him happily. "I'm shit at Techniques anyways – and Echo's not Kazue's kind of Force either." He smiles and shrugs but doesn't miss the subtle way Casra gives a respectful nod to him, acknowledging what the concession meant.

"Don't mind him," Casra tells Kazue with a laugh and grin. "I'm sure he's as good of a teacher for a Force user as he is a Hunter or Ranger." He bids them both goodbye, before brushing up against Zeno, lowering his voice for Zeno's ears alone. "If you have time before our joint 'lesson', perhaps another _equivalent_ exchange might be in order." He glances Kazue's way, and Zeno understands, though he's not entirely sure why Casra would offer one so quickly without anything he could gain in return.


	9. Something More

That evening had been mostly quiet, Zeno reflects to himself a few days later, a smile flickering back into place after his own early-morning training. Kazue's firm determination to find proof of his innocence had sparked something in his chest, the faintest spark of his fire back from where it had been doused, barely subsisting on his misery and overwhelming guilt. Echo had been by his side then – his faithful friend instead of a sneering, self-satisfied opponent for the grand goal of the empty fourth and sixth seat. He's so distracted that when Casra arrives, Zeno nearly spears him _again_. To his credit, Casra simply looks amused rather than annoyed the way he would be if it had been him. Casra's fingertips poke at the shaft of the weapon delicately, and he ducks away from where it had clipped his hat.

"I never learn," Casra says the words lightly, though his tone is as approving as the last time he'd done that. And even though it makes Zeno's cheeks flush with embarrassment, he gives a shy smile. "Bad time?" He asks, and Zeno snaps out of it, shakes his head instead, smile still on his lips.

"No, no, it's fine. Besides, we still have our _equivalent_ exchange to take care of," Zeno points out, gets a politely conceded tilt of a head for that. "Since you asked for it, I suppose you can start." Casra smiles ruefully but doesn't argue since he _had_ been the one to suggest it.

"Did you ever figure out where you knew Kazue from?" Zeno blinks, mystified, but reluctantly gives a small nod. "I just found out myself– her ARKs identification number was a legacy passed to her from her mother." The grimness of his tone makes Zeno frown, the younger of the two disliking the turn this conversation had begun to turn towards. "Eiha was a researcher in the Central Research Department. While she and her daughter's medical records are classified so nobody can meddle with them, there are _multiple_ notes about her position and character that were open to read." Zeno's expression doesn't change, but he follows along with the information dump. Now that he's heard that, Zeno's lips thin slightly, wondering if he'd ever met the woman – he'd ask for what she looked like after Casra was done explaining. "All her citations were…" here Casra winces – it's the most uncomfortable expression Zeno's ever seen on him – "In regard to human experimentation." Zeno doesn't make a visible move, but his twitch is not subtle to someone like Casra. "I don't think Kazue plans on following in her footsteps, but if she makes a mention of it… Please let me know." Casra sounded – to Zeno's deep surprise – thoroughly discomfited by the words he was speaking. "It's not… good." He says at last. "More than one person picked up her research after her death, but as far as we know, if she ever succeeded in her goals, she took it to her grave." Casra sounded like he agreed at least with that particular life choice, and Zeno couldn't blame him.

Human experimentation? Pantheon, what if she'd experimented on her own _kid_? Zeno manages to shake the thoughts away, before giving him a narrow-eyed gaze.

"I guess that you want my response in return?" He asks, and Casra shrugs easily.

"I'm willing to give it as it is, but you'd owe me a different answer later." Is his response, and Zeno pulls a face at the words. A free question for anything – no strings attached? He wasn't insane. He chooses to answer instead.

"I'll pass," he says delicately, and Casra gives him a shrewd little smile, knows his thoughts without even bothering to ask. "She reminds me of Sensei," Zeno shrugs carefully. Casra raises an eyebrow.

"I thought you hated the Academy teacher." Casra's tone is vaguely amused, and Zeno gives a snort.

"Oh yes, I'll despise that stuck-up old prune until the stars die," Zeno says glibly, before continuing. "I met Sensei back when I was skipping classes. Didn't get to spend nearly as much time with her as I wanted, to tell you the truth, but she was a kickass lady. Used to call me her minion all of the time though. She never stopped calling me that, no matter how annoyed I got." Zeno chuckles slightly, tilting his head up into the air. "She was your kind of woman," Zeno says fondly. When Casra gives him a bemused look, Zeno clarifies. "A 'harmless' information specialist – though I originally thought she was a combat specialist at first. She was a lot stronger than most ARKs, but she disappeared before [Apprentice] did." Zeno's expression twists. "I was pretty sure that [Apprentice] killed her, since the last thing she told me was that she was going to Lillipa to investigate something." Casra winces, offers a weak pat to his arm that he appreciates if only for the obvious sympathy given. He opens his mouth to say something, but is stalled by Kazue, who trots into the clearing with an expression of obvious distraction. She's not too pleased, judging by her expression, and Casra steps back, gently allows Zeno a moment alone with his student, expression thoughtful as he observes.

"I think it's fair to say I hate the other Rookies that aren't my Aibou – Afin, you know," she tells him upon his gentle once-over of her body. "Your Gettemholt is a mean son of a bitch. I don't think that there's a rookie alive that doesn't know about the fact that you're training me, and they've turned fucking _nasty_." Zeno's expression darkens, and Casra comes closer.

"Are you being harassed?" Casra's tone is strange, and Zeno chances a glance at him. Huh. He'd never seen Casra _angry_ before. It's a simmering heat, a glittering rage half-hidden by glasses and his placid-seeming smile. Kazue doesn't notice, and he wonders why until he remembers how Casra turns aside others with an affable smile and clever words to distract from the merciless man beneath it..

"Almost," Kazue shrugs slightly, and despite his anger, Zeno's impressed by her mental fortitude. "It's no worse than when I started the academy at seventeen rather than ten." She says the words lightly, but she's obviously shaken by whatever they've done. "Thank god for Aibou. He went through a lot of shit on my behalf," she gives a sigh, and Zeno's estimation of the cheerful sniper goes up a few notches. It took _grit_ to put up with a large, organized force of bullies without losing one's cool.

(Zeno may have graduated at thirteen thanks to that damnable attack by [Apprentice] but that didn't mean he was any less bullied for it – it just meant that actual ARKs could do the worst of it.)

"He sounds like a good friend," Casra ventures carefully, and Kazue's smile flickers into existence, small but real. It's interesting, how happy she seems by the praise of her partner from Casra. Zeno idly wonders why but doesn't ask while the man is there in front of them. He'll ask her later, when she's more likely to answer him honestly. "But are _you_ alright?" He seemed genuinely and – quite sweetly, in Zeno's opinion – concerned about her. What had she _done_ to get his regard? He was _curious_ now. Zeno observes the pair briefly, before he claps his hands together.

"You and I will be talking about this later," he tells her with a faint scowl, and she dips her head in obedient apology, ever dutiful. "So! Casra's the expert in Talis work, though if I remember right you prefer using Gunslashes in the field, right?" Casra agrees easily, smiling at how he turns the subject aside to focus on the bigger task. "Here's how we're going to work this," he tells her, and she perks up, Zeno imagining a tiny, wagging tail behind her. "I can teach you a lot of things, including the force you're going to need in the future, but Casra's skills lie in _surviving_ an enemy. Dodging, evasion, even turning overwhelming force back against the caster – that's Casra's skillset." Kazue's eyes have rounded to coin-like amazement, and he smiles, ruffles her hair. "Your stamina is still shit princess, but Casra can give you some tips on how to make that work." He grins. "I won't butt in at all. Instead, I'll be evaluating your progress, getting you up to snuff on what you can improve on and what you've done already." Casra raises a curious brow, but Kazue is practically vibrating with obvious excitement. "Take in what you can munchkin." She nods excitedly, and Casra gives a sigh when he realizes what Zeno's up to.

"You're using this as a lazy day," Casra accuses, fingers moving in sign while an indignant Kazue swings around to plant tiny hands on her hips, every inch of her quivering with indignance. _You want to study_ me _._ Zeno grins and holds his hands up, wiggles his fingers at Kazue who scowls at him to fight her smile.

"Maa, do you really think so lowly of me?" He teases them, before shaking his head. "No, I swear I'm not." He promises to Kazue. _Of course I do_. Casra's eyes sparkle with amusement, and his fingers twist around in an amused but not quite polite response out of Kazue's view. "I can't evaluate her progress if I'm the only one fighting her – I need someone else to fight her for a change – not let her get complacent – or lazy," He adds fondly towards his deeply scowling little minion. "I'm versatile, but you're in dire need of genuine variety princess." Kazue is quite huffy with him for that one, but Casra's amusement doesn't fade in the slightest, instead growing deeper with every word.

"And you can't provide that?" Casra teases fondly. Zeno rolls his eyes and snorts.

"Not on my own I can't." Zeno counters slyly, lips tugging into a smile. "I can't exactly watch myself fight Kazue, now can I?" Casra scowls half-heartedly at him for spoiling his fun, but seems to agree with his point, though it was obvious he had only been teasing. He's quick to get to business however, nodding towards Kazue while Zeno backs off. Kazue twists her head at them both, a confused tilt to her head that reminds Zeno of an adorable puppy – or perhaps a confused cat. He can make a few different comparisons but doesn't elaborate further in favor of watching how Casra teaches.

"Now, Miss Kazue," Casra begins, only to stop at her horrified look. Casra blinks, reviews his words visibly, and sighs. " _Kazue_ , then," he grumbles, gets a laugh from Zeno. "Why are you like this," Casra complains to Zeno, who grins openly. He'd bothered Casra back when they first met for his respectful demeanor and now Casra knew better than to call him mister _anything_. "Show me your stance, if you would." The girl obeys, shifting her weight and curling her body easily in the stance she preferred best.

Casting arm curled closer to her body, the weapon nearly against her stomach, her throwing arm a little lower than her ribcage. Casra quirks an eyebrow at the sight of it. Her entire stance is defensive to a T, and Casra seemed to be quite intrigued by her choice in body language.

"Mmm." He circles her a few times, before reaching out to gently tug her hands into a different position. "Defensive stances are good, but this offers you very little in the way of free-standing movement," he remarks kindly, kicking at one of her feet until she nudges it further forward to his specifications. "A slip of a thing like you should be more focused on evasion over defense until you're strong enough to actually block with a Technique, alright?" He asks gently, gets a nod from her. Zeno leans in, watching the two interact keenly, a smile playing over his lips as he does so. "Now, I'm sure Zeno's run you into the ground on dodging, so we'll work on enhancing what you already know. Casting while immaterial is tricky, but proper focus can make for a devastating moveset if you time it correctly," Casra notes the words aloud, explains more for her benefit – and his, as Casra pauses so that they can both hear him well. Zeno feels a rush of affection fill him at the consideration. "Casting isn't the same as elemental dodging," his lips curl into a smile. "Rather than using the power of the Technique to propel you away and leave a charged silhouette in its wake, you're using the energy _during_ your transition between one location to the next. So this doesn't require the absolute precision in casting the Technique, just the focus and the power to maintain your focus while immaterial." Casra takes a few steps back, pulling out an old and well-loved looking Talis out from storage. At Zeno's raised brow, Casra chuckles. "I thought Florenberg might be a bit… _much_ for this lesson," Casra laughs sheepishly.

Zeno knows it's an act from the moment Casra opens his mouth, but he's charmed all the same by the seemingly _humble_ demeanor he chooses to take on and uses as a shield and sword against those who might otherwise see the veil for what it was. Zeno rolls his eyes and leans back, watches as Casra displays what he's trying to show her, the rush of warmth from Shifta filling the field and spreading a little wider than Zeno was used to. Casra notices their surprise and smiles wryly. "As you can see, it gives you a much wider range as you're not really _physically_ in existence. The card – or whatever shape your Talis takes shape as – remains material, but your essence is further spread, and as such so is your attacks. This makes it useful for large area casting, though I prefer healing and status boosting with it, as attacks can be weakened if you use this for them. Wide-spread attacks suffer less, but they still lose power, unlike healing and boost effects." His tone had taken on an almost hypnotic quality, and Zeno was as enchanted as Kazue as Casra continued to explain his technique, guiding Kazue along with the motions almost effortlessly.

"Almost," he tells her with an encouraging smile the first time she nearly gets it, coaxing her gently through the steps again. He's not a natural teacher in the sense that he knew how to explain it – much of these skills were instinctive and he required much of her – and Zeno's own – input to really translate over to teaching. But all the same, his earnestness to try and offer some of the same trust given to him was intriguing to him. He mulls the thought over to himself, watches the spar and idly calls out his own notes, watches her obedient response to his actions. He doesn't expect for much, but Kazue's a quick study, and Casra – once he gets into the groove – is a far better teacher than his initial start would imply. Zeno doesn't think too much about it, instead calling a halt to the training with a clap of his hands. Kazue stills immediately, her worried gaze flickering between them both.

"Alright – I'm letting you go a little early," Zeno tells her, and she tilts her head at him, bemused. "Not for any altruistic reasons, I promise you," Zeno grins at her and she ducks her head shyly back at him, beams in return. "I believe your _aibou_ and you have a planned date. Or, you're helping him get ready for one." She gapes at him, and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Casra raise a subtle brow.

"I never said anything!" She splutters, and Zeno chuckles.

"I have ears my little minion." Zeno reminds her with a wave of his hand. "It's hardly subtle either – your aibou is very excited for this date, so don't make him too much of a wreck for it, hey?" His accent slips just a little, enough for Casra to narrow purple eyes at him in open curiosity. He ignores the slip of the tongue, ruffles her hair and sends her off on her new self-appointed mission. He watches her go, and eyes the expectant gaze of Casra as the man leans closer, eyes glittering in curiosity.

Well shit.


	10. More Questions

Short, but I didn't want to hold up the update.

* * *

Casra doesn't say a word for a long moment, his lips pressed into the faintest moue of curiosity, the bright gleam of purple glowing in the waning light of the Naberius sun. "Do you want to continue our equivalent exchange, or do you want me to leave it?" He's politely smiling, head cocked to a side as he observes Zeno.

"Will you leave it alone if I say I don't want to talk about it?" Zeno's question is short, and Casra tilts his head curiously, expression unchanging though his body holds a subtle undercurrent of intrigue.

"Sure." He shrugs. "You've left a few questions for me alone, so I suppose I can return the favor," Casra's smile is different this time – a touch bittersweet, but it stated his intentions quite clearly – at least, to him. Zeno mulls over the realization that he had a very clear idea of Casra's mercurial moods when most people would have instead called him impossible to read.

Zeno wonders idly if Casra can now do the same to him, but he dismisses the unsettling thought for the moment. He offers Casra another assessing look, before deciding to give it up – if only to distract him from the elephant in the room.

"I spent six years of my life from before entering the ARKs program an orphan." He decides to be blunt – if Casra had a problem with his candidness then _tough_. "The streets isn't really conductive to a decent education on proper speaking." Casra's expression remains unchanged, but there's a note of obvious sympathy in his tone when he responds.

"I was a lab-rat," he answers his own question first, before smiling ruefully. "I wouldn't have demanded an answer," he adds, almost chiding Zeno. Zeno grins ruefully in return.

"You've been so well behaved though," he teases lightly, gets Casra's amused response in the form of a glittering laugh, his smile brighter than he expected from such a simple show of trust. But then again… who trusted Casra with their deepest secrets? Even one so minor felt like a giant yield to him, and Zeno wonders about it. He shakes his head, expression shifting into a smile of his own. "My turn, I think." Zeno hums to himself, tapping a finger against his chin as he thinks about what he wants to ask. There's plenty, but much of it is deeply personal, and he doesn't want to answer it himself. One wanders to the events of a few days ago, and he thinks on it. It's personal, certainly, but _he_ wouldn't mind answering in return – it wasn't dangerous on its own, and if he wanted to develop a genuine understanding of Casra, politely dancing around the subject wouldn't do _anything_. "How often do you have nightmares?" It's a simple question, but the nigh-imperceptible tensing of Casra's shoulders makes it clear the question has far deeper meaning to him. He pauses. "You don't have to tell me," he hazards, and Casra chuckles slightly at how their words echo one another.

"No, it's fine. If you were so kind as to answer my rude curiosity, I can oblige you with the same." Zeno frowns at the words, but before he can protest, Casra interjects carefully, tone deliberately mild to avoid seeming rude. "I do avoid actively counting these things, at least to myself – I'm not fond of the idea of counting how many of them I have in a night." Zeno winces, but before he can apologize, Casra continues blithely. "If it must be said, I would average eight or nine of them a week." Zeno flinches slightly. That was considerably more than he expected from Casra. The man notices and gives him a wry grin. "More than you expected, huh?" He seems a little tired, but he doesn't seem too fussed about answering, which reassures Zeno slightly. "Your turn," he says, smiling ruefully.

"One every couple of weeks." He shrugs sheepishly, before hesitantly continuing. "I used to get them more when I was still a Ranger." Casra seems to understand, nods back at him. The pause between his answer and Casra's question stretches, before he finally heaves a tired sigh and speaks.

"What do you regret?" The question hurts – a stab into his chest that burned in his heart – and he gives Casra a wide-eyed glance as a result. He can't deny that he really did have that question coming, after his own rather personal attack, even if it was unintentional. It's not something however that Zeno would have expected Casra to ask – given that it seemed far too deep and personal for the quiet third seat. He uncharitably thinks that this is vengeance, but he can't be so cruel as to think that, given that he'd just caused Casra no unreasonable amount of distress.

"Giving up on my class." It's true, but the look of bemused surprise on Casra's face makes it clear the man hadn't expected that as an answer. He smiles at his disbelief but elaborates. "It was easy for me – but even then – I could have advanced our knowledge of the class, of myself…" He laughs, the tone as bittersweet as Casra's own response. "Instead, I gave up, when I should have pushed." Casra looks sympathetic now, reaches a hand out to carefully rest his hand on Zeno's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He _sounds_ it, and he knows Casra means it with every syllable. Zeno gives him another half-hearted smile, accepts the apology with a soft murmur of thanks. "I understand your regret," Casra seems sincere, and he divulges his own secret, glances away. "There… were lives I could have saved. I wasn't able to stop what killed them." Zeno wonders what happened – he'd never heard about it, but he doubted that Casra would make such a thing public. He doesn't think a simple statement of sympathy will cut it. Zeno yanks Casra closer, and the man gives out a muffled squeak of alarm when Zeno buries him within the depths of a hug, hat knocked off in the show of affection. The man gives a weak attempt at escape, but Zeno doesn't let go, and eventually the man relents, falling limp within his grasp and pressing himself closer to accept the warmth given to him, head settling comfortably against his shoulder as the adult shivers against him, holding himself resolute despite the offer to break down, to _trust_. Zeno doesn't feel disappointment when Casra pulls away without giving in, but he feels as though there is something… more, between their friendship. Maybe this is what he wants, but Zeno can't help but be happy about the idea of having a deeper friendship with the enigmatic third seat.

Casra seems more steady upon his feet, and he offers a more genuine smile towards Zeno, his expression buoyed by the given affection. He smiles shyly at Casra's grateful expression, the two parting from one another as Zeno eyes him. He seems a little sheepish, and Zeno takes pity on him.

"I should probably go," Zeno says with a smile, and Casra looks even more grateful at those words, and the two drift away. "See you soon?" He asks the words hopefully, and Casra's eyes light with pleasure.

"Of course." He chuckles, presses his hand into a fist and punches him gently with his fist, not even budging the Hunter, who chuckles at him fondly, Casra disappearing through his signature technique.


	11. Answers

"Hey there minion," Zeno greets Kazue cheerfully, the girl giving a glare up at him for the gentle teasing. "I haven't seen you that much recently – something wrong?" The girl looks startled, before shaking her head at him, obviously distressed.

"What? No, no!" She waves her hands around adorably, flailing up at him until he takes pity and keeps her from falling off of her seat in her immediate haste to apologize. "I've just been busy is all – helping some people out, you know." She beams up at him, and Zeno chuckles slightly, takes a seat next to her.

"That's my girl," he says fondly. He's kept up with her achievements of course – his little minion off saving people and doing good in the world. It's nice to see her making friends – even if it means that she's also making enemies a la one annoying _Gettemholt_. Her cheeks turn pink, and she hides her face, clearly flustered.

"Y-you can't just say things like that!" Kazue squeaks, obviously embarrassed by his words. He chuckles, ruffles her hair, pauses. She looks up at him, blinking in confusion as his fingers softly run over her scalp again, stop at two tiny bumps on her head. How he'd never noticed them before was beyond him. Kazue stares up at him, open curiosity on her features. "Zeno?" She looks up at him, confused by why he was suddenly stopping. "Is something wrong?"

 _All her citations were in regard to human experimentation_.

"No, you just have a couple of bumps," he shrugs, tries not to let the sudden tensing of her body under his hand phase his action. "I guess they're normal for you munchkin?" She heaves a sigh, and smiles at him.

"I should have known it wouldn't bother you," she shakes her head and chuckles. "Yeah, I've had them since I was little. I used to let them grow, but some kids broke one of them when I was young and it _hurt_ , so I've filed them down ever since." Zeno had _so_ many questions for his minion, but the look on her face – a cautious, almost wary sort of nervousness in her actions makes him rethink that. He wraps an arm around her shoulder, plants a kiss on top of her head. She's still too afraid to say what happened, and so he pushes it aside.

"Well, if anyone tries now, I'll fucking shoot them, okay baby girl?" He ruffles her hair again, and the downright _grateful_ look she gives him makes something in Zeno spark with the cold burn of rage. Oh yes – when she finally _did_ tell him who had hurt her, they were going to _regret_ it. He feels her tense slightly, before slumping against his side with a faint smile on her lips.

"Thanks Zeno." She sighs gratefully against his shoulder, her thick hair sticking up in odd angles from his gentle hair tousle. "You're the best." He smiles down at her, expression fond as they observe the expanse of Naberius from the cliffside they had chosen to take a break at. The moment stretches on as the sun tracks its way across the sky, a gentle breeze blowing through and scattering the leaves into the air. He jumps when her phone rings, and Kazue gives him an apologetic smile, digs through her pocket to retrieve it and observe whatever message she'd gotten.

"Good news?" Zeno asks her idly as she thumbs through the pile of mail on her phone, her head bowed over the screen as she looks thoughtfully down at it. She brightens slightly, before standing up and tugging eagerly on his hand.

"Important news!" She's incredibly excited all of a sudden, and Zeno hauls himself up when she sends a pleading look his way.

"Is it important news you want to _share?_ " Zeno's not fond of being left out of the loop, but he can't help her enthusiasm, the infectiousness of it making him laugh. She doesn't let go of his arm, dragging him the whole way to the campship. "Wha- hey! Who said you were allowed to be such a pushy little minion?" He whines at her, laughing when her only answer is to stick out her tongue.

"It's a surprise!" She insists to him, gets a laugh from him.

"It better be a good one if you're dragging me around like your partner character." Now _that_ was an odd duck of a PC – he'd thought his own was strange before it had been decommissioned for strange behavior. He rolls his eyes heavenward when she tugs on his arm again.

"But it's really important news!" She insists again. Zeno rolls his eyes.

"You're something else midget," he sighs, shaking his head exaggeratedly. Her expression shifts to annoyed outrage, and she glares at him.

"I'll gladly stick to minion if you _never_ call me that again." She tells him, glowering when he digs his heels in with a poorly hidden grin on his face. "And stop stalling!" She whines, gets another snicker from him as he allows her to yank him all the way to the barracks, where Casra is waiting, a slim glass file in his hands. Zeno raises an eyebrow, and the enigmatic third is smiling at them both, though he is no less bemused for it. "Did you get it?" She asks him eagerly, and the man snorts.

"You doubt me?" He's only teasing her, and Zeno raises an eyebrow at them both. "Ah – Zeno. Your student is a menace, you should know. She was quite determined to get these files for some reason. Traded me a couple of field missions for it." Zeno gives his student an arch look, and she has the grace to look a tiny bit sheepish. "Don't worry, it wasn't anything dangerous – she was already doing the work for another researcher – but the results matched data that Maria had passed on to me, so I asked if I could get a copy of the data results." He smiles at her fondly, and Kazue returns it with a happy one of her own. Casra's interest is appropriate for the time being, Zeno thinks to himself, compiling the information together in his head. It's only a mission, and obviously she'd had her own plans in mind, rather than playing to Casra's. The information specialist hands the file over to Kazue, who beams up at him once more, tugs on Zeno's hand.

"Thanks Casra!" She chirps, and Zeno allows himself to be dragged away, dramatically rolling his eyes at Casra who hides a smile behind his hand as he watches them leave. Zeno allows her to lock them away in her apartment, waits until she's done vibrating impatiently to smile down at her.

"So – do I get to see this _important_ news of yours?" He takes the file when it's handed to him, raises an eyebrow when he notices her sudden sheepishness. "So first you were excited, and now you're _sheepish?_ " He's only teasing her, but she scuffs her foot against the ground, and he realizes that she's nervous, her nonverbal cues much more prominent now that she's not in public. He eyes the file in his hands, twirls it between his fingers while he waits for her answer.

"I found her file." She blurts the words out, and he has several moments of incomprehension before it catches up to him what she actually was trying to answer. The glass freezes between his fingers.

"I… What?" He doesn't disbelieve her, not when Casra had clearly been the one to deliver the file. "How?"

"I traded those missions with the researcher for it," she admits, cheeks a little pink as she says the words aloud. "There's a couple other files on there about ARKs who died during the invasion – I couldn't just _ask_ for hers without him getting suspicious," Kazue's eyes are anxious, seeking approval from her actions but Zeno can't move, frozen by the realization that the very knowledge he'd both feared and desired was in his hands. Her anxiety visibly spikes up further, and the girl begins to shrink slightly, head ducking down as she retreats into herself, taking his silence as an implied scolding. He has to shake himself free of his melancholy, reach out to cup her face in the hand not holding the file.

"Why?" The word is soft, tone careful as he tries not to scare her with the force of his emotions. She swallows nervously, holds his hand against her cheek with a trembling hand. "Why go through all of this trouble?" She leans into his touch, eyes closing slightly as she answers.

"Because you need to believe in yourself again." She opens her eyes, and the soft green hue glows in the waning light of the ship's systems as it shifts to night mode. He can't help but stare at her in amazement, that this girl had gone through so much trouble for something he'd been so afraid to do for himself. Disregarding decorum, Zeno scoops her into his arms, burying his head into the thick, soft strands of sweet-smelling hair to convey his gratitude.

"Thank you," he breathes the words into her hair, feels her arms wrap around his waist and squeeze gently, receives a soft huff from her in return.

"Of course," she says, and he knows that she's being serious with the genuine conviction in her tone. She nuzzles against his chest, rocking back gently as she hugs him, the two swaying in place for a moment as they stand in silence. She pulls back, looks up at him. "Do you want some tea?" Kazue asks kindly, and Zeno smiles at her.

"I'd like that." Zeno says the words sincerely, but he knows the real reason and so does she. He wants to be alone to open this – he has a feeling that he'll want to be alone for it. She squeezes him again, before hustling off to make him his preferred blend of tea. That leaves him to take a seat across from the partner character, who smiles serenely at him before bowing out and excusing themselves, disappearing from his view to offer him some privacy.

Flipping the file over, he traces a finger over the edge of the glass, swallows. For such a slim little thing, Zeno could barely believe how much _weight_ it held in the metaphorical sense. This one thing had haunted him since he had been thirteen – and now he was looking at the very thing that had haunted his nightmares for a decade. He swallows.

 _Man up you fucking pussy_. Gettemholt's voice in his head is unwelcome, and he shakes his head immediately, scowls down at the file. He couldn't avoid this forever, and he jabs at the thin sheet with a little more force than necessary. It quakes a little in his grasp, but holds. The light blooms over it, and out of idle curiosity – _don't lie to yourself Zeno,_ he thinks – he scans the other files, opens them to read the autopsy results.

 _Nagisa of Ship 1 – Death by friendly fire  
Haruka of Ship 1 – Death by friendly fire  
Marissa of Ship 1 – Death by Darker infection  
Noire of Ship 1 – Death by Darker infection_

The list went on. It listed an unusual number of deaths by friendly fire, and the suspicion mounts in his thoughts. He'd thought it was him – a child's blame on a single death causing the change in the system. But the more he read, the more evidence he could see that it wasn't the truth at all. Zeno swallows awkwardly, flips one last file open. He wondered how much Casra really knew, or if the file was simply the last collected. Despite himself, he forces himself to read onwards, already dreading the outcome.

 _Melphonsina of Ship 1_

 _Photon Autopsy Report:  
The subject suffered severe photon depletion prior to her death from multiple photon arts used. Aside from minor scrapes and bruises, only one fatal injury was sustained – a stab wound in between the fourth and fifth left-side ribs from behind to her heart with surgical precision. The size and impression of the weapon was determined to be the foreleg of an El Dagan_

 _Stringent photon analysis shows that the subject was deeply infected by the Darkers due to the failure of a prototype weapon – the subject had been granted temporary access to a_ Purification _prototype. Compatibility to the object was extremely low, and instead resulted in the increased absorption of Darker Factor. No other Photon signatures could be found aside from the Darker Factor and the creature that killed her_.

The file clatters to the ground, and Zeno takes in a breath, feels the world spin a little dizzily around him. He wasn't at fault. He'd been so _sure_ … Every second of the last ten years hits him, hands shaking as he feels the guilt _slide_ off of him, dripping like oil from his skin and evaporating from his lungs. He wasn't at fault – her death hadn't been caused by him.

He still felt the guilt of not saving her, of not being able to protect her, but the bite of pain, the stabbing agony that had once come to his thoughts when he yearned for his rifle was ebbing away with the hate he had carried so long. Only the soft tap of footsteps alerts him to Kazue, the girl having abandoned her task to run to him, check if he was okay. He can't speak, and his expression is unreadable enough that Kazue's smile fades and her concern deepens, tiny little smile shifting into concern and then worry as he remains unable to vocalize what he had learned. She inches closer, clearly unsure of what to do, and he can't help it.

A laugh bubbles up in his throat at the girl who had done _everything_ right so far being so confused about what to do, and Zeno – for the second time that day – scoops her into his arms, falling against the couch to squeeze the breath out of her, nuzzling the skin as she squeaks and flails, caught off guard by the fall and the obvious affection. They're a tangle of awkward limbs, Zeno having little thought but for holding Kazue and venting the ten years of suppressed misery and panic into the hug. Kazue begins to gently nudge him, the pad of her fingertips pushing his legs and body into a gently guided path so that they were laying parallel to one another, no longer entangled in a mess of arms and legs. His head remains buried in the junction of her neck and shoulder, and she relaxes when all he does is curl his arms tighter around her waist, pulling her close and half purring from the relief. There's some tears, but it's happy ones, the knowledge giving him the peace he'd desperately wanted.

"Thank you," he whispers against salt-damp skin, tastes the tears on his lips. "For doing this for me when I couldn't have the courage to do it myself." She pulls back enough to press her forehead against his, smiles so brilliantly at him that he could bask in that warmth forever.

"I'm glad I could save you from a little of the pain." She whispers softly, and he smiles even wider, nuzzles against her skin.

"You did so much more than that sweetheart." He sighs, his heart beating to its own tune, lighter than he's felt in years. " _So_ much more."

* * *

Let me know what you guys think? I've worked on this for a while, but I'd like to get some feedback.


	12. Past Old Demons

It's different, waking up with the knowledge that his guilt had been in part absolved by the revelation of the truth. Kazue had gone through far more than she needed to, _just_ to save him the agony and pain of his own failings. He wakes up with a smile these days, his burden lightened and his actions easier. Today, he goes through the motions of fixing breakfast, grabs some supplies, and walks out in time to see Casra sipping at a thermos of tea and reading a report.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Zeno's tone is light, but Casra's head snaps up, and an amused smile quirks the edges of his mouth up. "People will start thinking something's going on." He gets a soft, light laugh for his efforts, and Casra shakes his head, smiling.

"And I'm the one who won't let you live it down?" He's only joking, and Zeno grins, nudges Casra's shoulder playfully. "You're incorrigible," he chuckles, the two heading down the steps together. By unspoken agreement, they don't take the teleport station, content to spend time in one another's company. They don't need to talk, Casra sipping at his cup of tea and Zeno doing the same with his cup of coffee. He occasionally nudges Casra, who smiles at him and allows it, the other man bumping him back playfully in return. They part ways well before he reaches the main shopping center, Casra disappearing to… wherever he did his work. Zeno's got a plan in mind for the day, and when he enters the item Lab, Dudu groans at the sight of him.

"Oh Pantheon," the man grumbles to Zeno's amusement. "It's you. What did you break this time." Zeno's smile is rueful, before he pulled out an old case from his storage. He'd cleaned everything, but it had been years since he'd done maintenance on it and he could go for something a little more.

"Not broken," Zeno corrects gently, allowing the grouchy man to take the case from him. "Just in need of some updating." Dudu doesn't hide his skepticism, snapping open the case and then slamming it shut. Fury rolls over his expression, and Zeno nearly steps back.

"Boy if this is some kind of _joke_ –" Zeno vividly remembers the day that he'd told Dudu that he would sooner die before ever touching a rifle again.

"Times change," Zeno says flatly, silencing the man. "I found some things out that changed my mind." The man carefully eyes him, dark eyes scrutinizing him until he receives some answer that Zeno is sure will baffle him no matter what he chooses to say. "Can you fix her?" He asks without fanfare, tilting his head to a side. Dudu was dead silent, gaze settled on him in a frightening intensity.

"You're _serious_ ," the words are half-incredulous, spoken with the faintest hint of disbelief. Zeno gives a wry little grin, looks Dudu over.

"I'm moving on," Zeno shrugs, crosses his arms. "And to do that, I've got to face my demons. Baby here is one of them." The man stares down at the weapon, narrows his eyes at Zeno.

"Why not Zieg?" It's a valid question, and Zeno's lips twist wryly. Dudu hated the man who had usurped his position as top weapons crafter, though Zeno only really knew the vague details of it.

"You made that," He nods towards the case, smiles when the man straightens at that. "Nobody knows her better than you – and I would bet anything that you still know how to fix 'er up. Why in the fucking _hell_ would I go to anyone else?" Zeno knew without another word that he'd convinced the man.

"It'll be done by the end of today." He snatches the case up, before giving Zeno a respectful nod. "Monica!" He yells the word at the top of his lungs, making Zeno jump a little. Something crashes in the distance, and Zeno winces internally on her behalf as Monica stumbles through the door, her hair dusted bright green from whatever had fallen on her. "I'll be working on a project today – you're in control of the lab." He doesn't give her a second to stutter a response, brushing past them both instead to disappear into the depths of his workshop. Zeno gives a bemused little smile at his actions. He'd known Dudu had taken it hard when he'd left his class, but this level of excitement was unexpected. He helps Monica up, and the girl smiles awkwardly at him, dusting herself off to clean up whatever mess she'd unintentionally left behind.

"You okay?" He asks, more out of politeness than anything. Monica was a nice girl – but far, far too timid to hold a decent conversation with.

"I-I'll be fine," she stutters, proving his point as her cheeks flush pink and she scrambles to get away from him. If he had a weaker ego that would have _hurt_ like fuck. Girl knew how to trample an ego without even _trying_. He watches her disappear with faint amusement, walking out to the sight of Kazue and her aibou. Said boy seemed to be wobbling through the weapon shops, decidedly less on point than Kazue, who is gently leading him with an exasperated smile.

"Your hair's green," Kazue tells him bluntly, gets an amused smile from him. Afin is squinting, and he casts a look askance in Kazue's direction, jerking a thumb at Afin when the boy looks away. (He carefully ruffles his hair though. Just in case she wasn't joking about his hair being green.) Rolling her eyes, she explains. "Aibou did a stupid thing and went and got himself drunk." Zeno could already see where this was heading, winced in obvious sympathy.

"How bad is the hangover?" Zeno asks delicately, offers the boy the half of coffee left in his mug. Afin pounces on it and has half of the drink downed before he manages a sheepish-sounding thank you. Zeno carefully ruffles the boy's hair, and for once, he accepts it without question, slurping down the coffee greedily.

"Bad enough that he was actually still drunk when he woke up this morning." Kazue says dryly. Zeno _cringes_ on his behalf, because he'd done that when he was thirteen and stupid off his self-inflicted guilt. That wasn't something he'd wish on anybody. (Except maybe Gettemholt, the bastard.) Zeno offers the boy another hair ruffle, and grins ruefully.

"I guess I can show you another Hunter's secret then," he chuckles when they both look up at him, though Afin winces and immediately covers his eyes.

Zeno feels for the boy.

"Oh? A hangover cure?" Kazue sounds horribly amused, and Zeno chuckles, gently taking Afin by the arm and allowing Kazue to stretch cramped limbs. She flashes him a grateful smile, and he chuckles quietly back.

"Something better. The best damn diner on this ship." He corrects, eases them both behind a crack in the wall behind the Hunters supply shops. "It's greasy, salty, and cheap as fuck, which is the closest you'll get to a hangover cure unless you want to sit through Philia's twenty-minute lecture in blinding light about hangovers and get one of hers." Afin cringes at that, and Kazue winces at the mere description of it.

"I'll pass on aibou's behalf," She says hastily instead, and Zeno chuckles dryly at her, receives a smile of his own from her. The diner is wedged into the scant space between stores, inaccessible unless one went through the back. Zeno had found it after he'd really needed it, but for cheap, fast, and _good_ food, this was the place to go. Zeno orders for them both – he had a good idea of what Kazue liked, and Afin would eat whatever Zeno put in front of him and he'd _like_ it. It also meant that he could wedge them into a tiny booth near the door and steal some space to eat. More than one person glared at him, and he smirks at them, glad for the fact that his minions were already so useful. He comes back with huge plates of food.

"One Hangover Special for my drunk minion, one sugar-sour fried rice and chicken for my favorite minion, and a greasy as fuck burger for me," He's joking of course, but Kazue peers at her meal curiously, before taking the offered chopsticks and digging in, giving an appreciative noise that in any other context might have made Zeno blush. Afin turns an interesting shade of red, and Zeno has to take a bite out of his burger to stifle his own amused reaction. "Eat up Afin," Zeno suggests, and the boy eyes the fried meal before him dubiously. "Only one thing cures a hangover better and you're too young for it." Kazue catches his meaning and chokes on her rice, spluttering with laughter around the mouthful of food she'd just shoveled in. Afin's clueless, but Zeno's glad – kid was innocent after going through the ARKs Programme? He _envied_ Afin for that. He'd stopped being innocent a long time ago. He takes a bigger bite than normal to ignore his own feelings.

"So, what's this whole being stupid and getting drunk so hard you're _still_ drunk come morning?" Zeno asks. Afin looks upset, and Zeno smiles gently. "Hey, look, I was young and stupid too – I did some shit in my time that would make a nice kid like you think I'm insane." Afin's bleary eyed glare shows that it wasn't as comforting as he hoped he would be, but at least Kazue seemed to understand. She leans over the table and whispers into Afin's ear, and the boy looks wary, before seeming to take his partner at her obviously encouraging words.

"The girl I asked out only agreed to stay with me if I slept with her," Afin says dully. Zeno's heart lurches at the obvious distress. "I told her to get out." Zeno wraps an arm around the boy, yanks him into a hug that makes Afin squeak.

"I'm sorry kiddo." He says sincerely, and Afin melts into his arm, miserably managing another bite. "Look, I'm sure you'll find your perfect girl or guy someday." Afin's eyes are grateful, and Kazue smiles at him herself, clearly pleased. Zeno ruffles Afin's hair yet again, before going back to his burger to give Afin some time to pull himself back together while they eat. Kazue is back to scrounging through her stir-fry and nibbling on some crunchy water chestnuts.

"How did you find this place?" She asks, and Zeno pauses, chewing on his mouthful and swallowing before he answers her question.

"When I was about fourteen, I was looking for a place to hide from some bullies and thought nobody would look for me behind the alley between the Hunter's shops." Kazue's expression darkens, and she scowls at her food. Afin doesn't look pleased either, but they listen in silence. "The place had just opened up, and they were nice enough to let me hide in the kitchen in return for scrubbing some dishes. I started getting more popular once my skill as a Hunter was established, and to repay them, I set people their way." Zeno smiles fondly, takes a quick bite of his food. They seem content enough to wait while he enjoys his meal, and after swallowing again, he continues. "The place grew pretty popular once rumors of my possibility of becoming the fourth seat cropped up. Many of them were also among those who bullied me." He lets his voice carry, and the few curious enough to wonder what Zeno was doing with two rookies flinch and scoot away, pretending indifference. "But they kept this place going, and for that I'm grateful." There's nothing more to be said, and they continue eating, comfortably silent. He drinks his water, pays a generous tip to the owner once his minions finish their meals, and ushers them out so someone else can take their seats. Afin is much improved, chatting with him about rifles and sniper scopes. Kazue is – to his amusement – taking notes on their conversation, and she looks a little defensive when he raises an eyebrow at her.

"It's new for you to pay attention to non-force classes, that's all dear," he says fondly, and Kazue scowls, lifting an ink-flecked hand to flip him the bird. Zeno chuckles at her antics, and Afin manages a sheepish smile at her. "If you're so inclined, I guess we can start working on Ranger classes too." He says in amusement, and Kazue scowls faintly, hands planted on her hips.

"I just want to study up on it – you two are good at your classes, so I thought I'd take notes!" She complains. Zeno rolls his eyes with feeling at Afin, who laughs.

"God – me, teaching." He sighs. "C'mon now. I think the VR room should have space, and your aim is a fucking disaster." He ruffles Afin's hair, and the boy grumbles. "Let's go you two."


	13. Something Deeper

"You're up early," Casra notes with faint amusement. Zeno lifts his rifle from where he'd aimed it, the crosshairs settled over his heart out of alarm. Casra doesn't seem all that surprised to see him with a ranged weapon, but the curious look can't be missed when Zeno's eyes are sharp, his skills running in overdrive. It takes a moment for him to blink, for the thoughts to fade and the after-images of potential futures to fade. Casra hadn't moved an inch, still curiously peering down at him, glasses still reflecting the slightest sheen despite the shade of his hat. They both know this is a change in his routine – Zeno hasn't touched a rifle since he was thirteen, and he knows Casra's well aware of it.

"Maria's been harping on me about it," he shrugs slightly, lifts a shoulder without jostling his weapon in his hands. "Thought I'd shut her up for once." The forced casualness of his tone can't be missed, but Casra proves he's descended from saints when all he does is hum thoughtfully, takes a seat next to him.

"I see," He offers, placid as ever. "Mind if I watch?" It's carefully offered – the right of refusal. Casra dances a fine blade's edge – and Zeno knows without thinking that he'd just been pulled on it as well. This is a thin line – an outright refusal could be taken badly – a sign of distrust, while blind acceptance would be a fool's errand. He runs through each possibility, before giving a quick nod. Casra was a number of things, but his word was his bond, always.

"I suppose you can for a while. Be quiet though. I don't want this getting out yet," he admonishes, and Casra smiles, barely-there relief and the faintest hint of pleasure in his expression.

"I'll be good," he promises lowly, miming the action of zipping his lips and tossing away an imaginary key. Zeno chuckles, settles back into position overlooking the valley. The frosty air of the tundra nips at his skin, but Zeno pushes back the discomfort. He double-checks the wind force and direction through his scope, ears alert for noises beyond those Casra makes, quietly sipping at his tea and watching Zeno pull his old class over his skin like a cloak, the hum of something right settling into place quickly. The soft touch of Casra's hand doesn't startle him – telegraphed as it is by the rustle of fabric – but the sudden warmth that spreads through him is, and he glances from his scope, skills alight. Casra offers a sheepish smile, but he smiles instead, returns his attention to the valley once he's sure Casra's only keeping them both warm. The intake of breath is slow, languid. With the luxury of warmth Casra afforded him, Zeno's full focus returns to his targets rather than tracking his possible and impending hypothermic reaction. Sniping the enemy from such a distance wasn't an impossibility, but it'd been quite some time since he'd last done such a long-ranged shot that if it wasn't for how _right_ it felt to hold his weapon in his hands, Zeno would have been worried. He allows all his breath out, his heartbeat slowing as he takes aim. The rifle jerks slightly in his grasp, but he controls it with ease, forcing the kickback into little more than a light jostling in his hands. The Fangulf jerks once, tossed to the side before tumbling down and laying still. Casra's fingers don't move, but he can feel the air of impressed intrigue at such a shot. Zeno breathes back in, settling back into his routine with a smile. He always performed better with an audience.

By the time an exasperated and out of breath Kazue finds them, Zeno's sniped half of the Fangulf in the valley to amusing results. She brightens at the sight of them both, and when Zeno finishes fiddling with his rifle, she slugs him in the arm.

"Hey, _dumbasses_ ," she's snippy, but there's no real bite in her tone, the girl tightening her jacket around her waist. "Next time, do me a favor and let me know you're going to be terrifying the local population of Fangulf, would you?" Casra gives an apologetic dip of his head, and Zeno grins ruefully, wraps her in an one-armed hug, plants a kiss on the top of her head and ruffles her hair. He can feel her horns growing under the thick, fluffy mop, and she gives him a shy smile, knows what he'd been checking out. She greets Casra with a hug for him, and to his credit he only freezes for a few seconds before squeezing her in a tight hug that makes her squeak.

"My apologies – I don't often see a master sniper at work," Casra says apologetically, and Zeno snorts. Hardly a _master_ – he was rusty. His thirteen-year-old self would have yelled at him for hours over his sloppy technique.

"I don't see one," Zeno says bluntly. "My technique is _years_ out of date C." He doesn't miss the startled look given to him, but it takes him a moment to realize why. The nickname isn't something he's said out loud before, and he hadn't intended for it to be heard. But the faint dust of pink that highlights over Casra's skin makes Zeno's lips quirk up slightly, and Casra coughs, looks away. Kazue blinks, but looks up at them both.

"Oh, is it time to share nicknames?" She says curiously, and Casra is – for the moment – saved from an awkward situation that Zeno had planned on capitalizing on. He mock-scowls at his student, and she grins shamelessly, knows she pulled him from his fun, but his pouting was obviously amusing to them both. "I guess I can call you Zenoboy now?" Zeno's head snaps around, and his glare is nowhere near as fierce when Casra chokes on a laugh.

"Where the fuck do you keep finding these annoying things?" He complains, and Casra chuckles deeply, obviously amused by him.

"She's just like me," Casra teases fondly, obviously trying to get a rise out of him. "Isn't it just like me to find embarrassing information?" She seems pleased by the comparison, and Zeno scowls.

"You're both terrible," he says, and Kazue grins up at him.

"I learned from the two best assholes." She says sweetly, and Casra loses his battle with his strangled snickers, gleefully laughing himself sick while Zeno crosses his arms and pretends not to be amused. His lips are twitching, so he doubts that he's actually being taken seriously.

"Stop laughing," Zeno tells Casra. "You're going to break something like that." Casra's half-wheezing, and he has to rest a hand on his side, Kazue scuttling over to help prop him up anxiously.

"Too late, I think I already did…" He's still laughing, but it's not nearly as hard, and he can straighten himself up quite easily with Kazue's help, eyes sparkling with mirth. "You have such assholes for friends, hmm?" He's teasing, fingers nudging Zeno's shoulder gently, and the Hunter – Ranger? He was kind of between classes now wasn't he – rolls his eyes. "Don't worry _Zenoboy_ , the nickname won't stick." He chuckles softly, and Zeno scowls deeper. "I think you much preferred going by just Z back in the Academy, didn't you?" The fact that Casra knows that sends a chill running up his spine, and it's not just because Casra was paying him attention. But Casra had clearly been paying him more attention than he'd thought for much _longer_. The air feels even colder than it should, but he manages to respond lightly, though it doesn't reach his eyes.

"You're remarkably well-informed." There's little humor in his words, and Casra shrugs, the tension suddenly thick between them.

"I like to keep up with people who might one day be my contemporaries." He's smiling, but he's aware he's made a misstep somewhere. Kazue notices the tension; however, she doesn't really know how to address it. She looks between them, before taking a step back.

"I'm… going to get my laps in around the lake," she says the words awkwardly, and Zeno gives her a quick, distracted nod.

"Yeah – I'll catch up after you do ten." She grimaces but takes off at a fast jog that quickly becomes a ground-eating sprint. They both watch her leave, and Casra moves to speak, before pausing, looking torn. "Casra." His voice is devoid of his usual good humor, gaze sliding away from his student to stare him in the eyes, challenging him. The silence stretches between them, and Casra fidgets under his gaze.

The man that he'd learned the Techer to be was startlingly generous with his information, irreplaceably useful in teaching Kazue these last few weeks on the Technic side of things, and both a fun and willing sparring partner on the side. And then there had been his little shows of faith – stepping in to help out, the intimacy of sharing energy to keep him warm during this morning's practice, his approachability with Kazue… A lesser ARKs might have thought it charity, but Zeno knew better. Casra was a man with a plan in all scenarios, and Zeno didn't know what plan he had in mind yet. Through all of this, Zeno still didn't get _why_ Casra spent time with him and Kazue. What enamored the quiet information specialist and researcher to spend time with them when they weren't really of any interest? What tactical purpose did the man have? Casra is still waiting for him to say something, and at last, he does.

"Why?" It's a plea. A demand. Maybe even an order – he doesn't just _want_ to know, he needs to. He refuses to let this little charade go on any further – Casra holds too many cards, and he knows too little. Casra says nothing for a long moment, before looking up at him with a faintly pained expression.

"You two don't care." He whispers. Of all the answers Zeno thought he would get, that was… admittedly not one of them. Care about _what?_ His question gets answered easily enough – Casra's an honest soul for all his unusual and often reticent behavior. "About my reputation. It's… hard, for people to put aside what I do, who I have to work for, my position."

 _Oh_.

Of all the reasons, this was not one Zeno ever expected to hear. Casra wielded his class, his position, and even his connections like the weapons they were when he needed to – finding out that he had such a hard time putting that aside to make friends was… interesting. He waits patiently, though he's tracking Kazue out of the corner of his eye. "You _get_ it. Both of you. The isolation, the displacement… the disdain." Those words hurt like a punch to the gut. It was true. Kazue had her fair share of bullies and malcontents, and Zeno had a decade of the disdain of ARKs to his name. He knew – _knew_ exactly what Casra meant when he said those words.

Even with Klairskrays, Zeno was still by far the youngest graduate in ARKs history – he'd run from the Academy to escape the bullying he'd experienced after his unintentional field experience, and older ARKs had taken it as an insult that he had the strength, even with an unfamiliar class, to outperform them on the field.

Kazue wasn't unusual, but she was older than most graduates, probably even among the oldest to graduate. Her unknown heritage worked against her, the hushed way she'd talked about the horns on her head as though they were a sin ringing in his head. Casra fucking _got_ it. Kazue is on her third lap, he realizes dimly, when he takes a careful step forward. He slides a hand against the back of Casra's neck, pulls him close to press their foreheads together once he knows Kazue can't see them. He doesn't want her distracted.

Even with the blue-tinted glasses in the way, Casra's eyes are a vivid shade of purple this close, and they're wide – startled from his sudden action. Zeno's thumb rubs against the skin there, and he's smiling slightly at him. Rueful, tinged with sad humor. Finding a kindred soul in Kazue he'd expected. One in _Casra_? Not so much.

"Yeah. I get it." Casra's shoulders sag in relief, and he notes quietly that it seems to reassure him _more_ now that Zeno knows. "Just… ease up on my Academy days knowledge, would you? I don't exactly remember that place fondly." Casra smiles slightly, tilts his head in acceptance.

"Of course," He murmurs politely, obviously willing to do as asked. Kazue is starting to slow down, and Zeno can't help the spark of pity he feels for his little minion, gives Casra a look askance. The man smiles ruefully, chuckles. "Go on – terrorize her," he says with a nod. "Though if you don't mind – I'd like to borrow her once you're done with your work – I have some notes that I was hoping to have someone else's input in dealing with figuring out how these might work." Zeno quirks an eyebrow at the admission, and Casra flushes, but stands his ground.

"Sure you can borrow her – though maybe what you need isn't another Force specialist's input," He suggests mildly, and Casra slides his gaze sideways to eye him. Zeno maintains his air of innocence, and Casra's lips curve up.

"Maybe you're right," he agrees at last. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see." That's a polite dismissal if Zeno's ever heard one, and he can hear Kazue drawing closer. He gently swipes his thumb again over the skin, closes his eyes to breathe in, share a single moment with him before pulling away. Kazue looks like shit, he decides, before smiling and breaking into a light jog, drawing level with her and offering the girl a smile she barely manages to return.

Casra is curled up with his notes by the time they return, looking far less ruffled than he had when Zeno had confronted him. His hat has been set aside, glasses teetering on the edge of his nose as he reads through what looks like some sort of math equation. Zeno lights up – he'd always had quite the head for numbers, it came with the class he'd been born to – and Casra notices them both, smiling genuinely at them both.

"All done?" He asks, the screens slowing down and going still as he looks up, pushing the bridge of his glasses up his nose, hiding his eyes from view once more. Kazue flops to the ground to stretch, and Zeno, smiling in amusement – follows her languid example.

"Not quite. She needs to stretch and then she's all yours for an afternoon. I still have to get some practice in – expand my range some more." Zeno shrugs slightly at their combined glances. "What? If you hadn't been here, I'd be trying to work with her on elemental conversion, but something tells me that whatever you've got is a long-haul project." Kazue huffs at him, and Casra gives a tolerantly amused roll of his eyes, smiling softly at his logic.

"He's not _wrong_ ," Casra admits at last, smiling down at her. "Let him be lazy today – I could genuinely use your assistance," He admits, and Kazue perks up, feeling better at his reassurance. Zeno ruffles her hair again, feeling them settle around him, Casra's hand laying against his back and offering him warmth while he concentrates on his task. Their words soften to a dull hum, and Zeno settles deeper into his trance, a warmth that had nothing to do with the heat settling deep into his bones. This… this was _nice_.


	14. Artic Vistors

"Zeno!" Echo runs to catch up with him, and he offers her a slightly guilty smile. He hadn't been spending _nearly_ as much time as he used to with his best friend. Between deciphering the odd notes – and he'd been right, it was some level of math – and training Kazue, he'd not had the time. The separation has done him better than it has her, he thinks critically, before feeling a swamping wave of guilt that he even thought that. Without him to drag her around at swordpoint, Echo's doing less work than ever, and it shows. He'd checked briefly before deciding to drag her out – as a Hunter, of course.

It rankled that he was hiding this from his best friend, but Zeno knew that Echo was shit at keeping secrets, and he walks alongside her, listens to her complain with faint irritation. He'd been working his ass off recently, and it was obvious to him she hadn't. He shakes his head, forces the thoughts back and zones back in just in time to hear her finish her story.

"And Marlu and I were comparing notes since – I really think that Zonde-boosting radio communications could be useful for emergency situations." Huh. That at least was interesting, and he says as much.

"Wouldn't you have to adjust communication headsets to accommodate high energy recharges from something other than the usual power sources?" He asks carefully, and she droops.

"Still working on that," she grumbles honestly, and Zeno muffles a little laugh – this was the Echo he knew best – big ideas, but a little slow on the execution. "So – how is your mentoring going?" She asks hesitantly, and Zeno brightens.

"It's been going great! Kazue's really getting into the swing of those techniques and tricks you sent to me – and her stamina is finally up to par," he chuckles slightly at that. "Though, she doesn't thank me much for that – I drove her into the ground to fix that." Echo's smile seems a little strained, and it takes Zeno a moment to remember why. She probably thought he had been mentoring Afin, but the boy was okay, and often was gone for much longer hours than Zeno worked, hunting down missing persons and often returning with news of their death – or on a handful of occasions – a trip from the hospital after dragging them there. Afin didn't need a mentor – or more accurately, the kid didn't _want_ one. Kazue on the other hand… She took knowledge like a sponge, greedy to learn everything she could. He'd seen her after their training sessions, typing up pages of notes for her work, submitting regular, neatly organized reports. He'd borrowed a copy from Koffie once out of curiosity and it had been interesting to see how she took what he taught her and transcribed it into easily followed lessons for the dedicated.

Either way, he silently rolls his eyes to himself, before continuing his train of thought. "Besides, you wanted to go on a mission with me today, right?" She lights up, and Zeno forces himself to not sigh at how obvious she was. He offers her a smile all the same and lets her pick out their destination. The tundra is cold, but Zeno can already see where this is going, and he vows silently not to go into any caves with her.

He's not making it easy for her to confess – she needed actual self-esteem for that. Zeno hangs back once they're on the tundra proper, content to watch Echo, comparing her to Kazue. On the actual battlefield, she loses some of her nervousness, but she's _shit_ at her spatial awareness, and it shows. Out of pity, he keeps them at bay with his gunslash, watches her struggle against the mobs in silence. Her casting speed is still good, he thinks, but she could use a hand on speeding up her dodges. He shoots a few white-furred Fangulf in between the eyes before they can clip her unprotected side, and sighs once more. He'd seen enough. His blade slices through the remaining stragglers with ease, and Zeno ignores her surprised stare.

"You've gotten faster," Echo says with a quick smile at him, and he smiles back a little awkwardly at her. What is he supposed to say? He'd gotten faster because he hadn't been holding back for her? The _thought_ alone sounds rude and he avoids thinking it again. Their mission is a simple one when he checks – provide aid to any ARKs in need for the next four hours. Originally supposed to be Huey's purview, but apparently, he'd gone off to help Klariskrays with some stuff on Lillipa, so there they were, filling in. It was almost funny, Zeno thinks, that his name was all the clearance he needed to accept the mission. There'd been an incredulous pause when he had Echo with him, and even now, she was steamed, ranting about how he didn't get this on his solo work for other Council Members.

He wisely chooses not to point out that he was usually alone for those.

It's chilly as fuck out in the tundra, a sudden sweeping cold slamming into them both when they go from the high walls of the canyon to the open valleys. The weather is terrible enough that Echo – willingly, holy shit – casts Shifta over them both, warming and protecting them from the chill of the incoming storm. Zeno toggles three times to get communications with the base, and the moment it's done, he speaks into the comms unit.

" _What_ in the actual fuck Koffie." He says it without a hint of amusement, shakes some snow off of his sheathed weapon. Koffie sighs through the radio.

 _ **I'd have loved to give warning, but I'm afraid that our weather systems are shot. We've got someone you know already looking into it, but neither she nor Rogio can figure out what the hell's going on with the radio units. They all just… fried.**_ Her bemused tone gives Zeno enough to cool his growing irritation, and he toggles back an affirmative while he scans the area.

"So who is actually looking into this? I know Rogio is the usual climate expert for ARKs, but I noticed you didn't name names." There's nothing but static, and finally, he receives his answer.

 _ **You know the one,**_ Koffie says dryly enough to evaporate the tundra of what little humidity is left. _ **I just don't like giving away ARKs on sanctioned missions.**_ She might as well have shouted from the rooftops she was being listened in on, Zeno thinks sardonically, but after a moment of silence, decides it's probably Kazue.

"Thanks," he says instead. "Any idea on their location?" He's careful not to ask for more, and he can practically _feel_ Echo straining for the answer.

 _ **I'll patch you to Rogio. He'll fill you in**_ **.** Zeno's lips quirk up at the response, before he can hear a crackling of static. Rogio isn't someone Zeno's familiar with, having only heard about him through Kazue, when he'd helped her on a few missions. The boy was a weather and climate expert, who was studying the patterns on Naberius to discover an origin to the unusual weather. It was an interesting field of study, but Zeno couldn't imagine crunching numbers every day of his life for a _living_.

"Hey, Rogio." Zeno keeps his voice nonchalant as he speaks – he's found keeping an even tone works best with skittish science types like him. "I heard my minion's helping you out, but Echo and I are doing Huey's patrol route today – any issues I should be aware of?" Huey's more for grand shows, but subtlety has always been more of his style – at least, when it mattered. He didn't mind people mistaking him for flashy – it helped sometimes, to not be noticed.

 _ **O-oh. Hello. Zeno, right? I've heard about you from her,**_ he says, and Zeno feels himself warm a little at the words. _**Kazue might not appreciate it, but there is a worrying spike in photon activity. It's not related to the weather, but if the radio antennae don't come online with how high the Darker Factor is, we're going to start losing ARKs There's only two towers left, but without them the whole system is offline.**_ Zeno winces at that and hurries his pace, Echo following him with an obviously confused air, but willing to chase after him in exasperation. It doesn't take long to find her, the dark coat of her jacket blowing in the harsh winds. She's kneeling, a wide-set Rod stabbed into the earth behind her to break the wind as she works on the cables. Zeno can hear a muttered curse from Echo, before his friend switches to another Rod and throws out a wind Technique to slow the air around them. Kazue doesn't look up until the red lights have turned green, signifying that it was finally online, but when she does, her expression lights up like the sun at the sight of them. Echo isn't as thrilled, muttering under her breath. Zeno gives her an arch look, and she flushes a little at his scolding expression.

"Zeno!" She beams at him, before ducking her head to glower at the tangled wires. "Echo! Hi!" She's as pleased to see Echo as she is Zeno, and he almost snickers at Echo's embarrassment. "I could use a hand…" She's embarrassed herself, and gestures helplessly at the tangled wires. "Rogio's been helping me out, but he can't see anything with this weather fucking with the communications." Zeno smiles down at her, kneeling next to his student to help her detangle the wires. After another burst of wind to stall the return of the weather, Echo takes a place on Kazue's other side, watching them with consternation.

"You've never done this before, huh." Echo's tone is vaguely amused, and the Force bats both of their hands out of the way, quickly and efficiently pulling the wires apart and then reordering them together back into their case. "Don't worry – I spent enough time in support to remember how this works." Echo chuckles slightly at her own words, closes the casing with ease, and Zeno gives her an impressed look. He wasn't so good with systems himself, so watching someone make a day of it without much effort was always impressive. "There. Not so hard now that you've seen it, right?" She's smiling at Kazue, but Zeno can't place the tone of her voice. Kazue either doesn't notice it, or chooses to ignore it, dusting her hands off.

"No, not really," She answers Echo's question with a sheepish and shy smile of her own, before pulling her hair out of the way, tapping her communication screen with a faint little frown. Zeno flinches at the same time as Kazue when a noise rings in the air. Echo watches them, her hand laying on his shoulder in concern when he curses.

"The fuck is that noise?" Zeno groans, rubbing an ear while Kazue checks her communication unit next to him. Kazue eyes him with interested curiosity, and he raises an eyebrow of his own back. _She'd_ heard it, obviously, but what about Echo?

"I can't hear anything," Echo tells him in bemusement, and Rogio chips in as well, clearly befuddled.

 _ **There's no sound readings that came over through your headsets**_ , Rogio offers helpfully, and Zeno shares a disbelieving look with Kazue at that. He _must_ be joking. Even so, Kazue disbelievingly shakes her head but takes him at his word.

"I guess it must have just been feedback," she lies to spare Rogio and Echo, and Zeno flashes her a smile – she'd known what he'd been about to say without his own interference in the matter

"Like when you first met Kazue?" Echo now sounds deeply suspicious, and he's aware of Kazue also glancing at him in open curiosity. When Echo looks away, he mouths 'later' to her, where Echo won't be there to see them. She nods back at him, and she pulls up her screens, marking off another one on her map.

"There's one more left," Kazue tells them. "It gets blown around a bit, so we should probably take it on the upper and lower levels, just in case the cord it's on gets snagged up on the walls and we need to chip it down some." Zeno thinks it sounds reasonable enough, and he claps a hand on Echo's shoulder.

"I guess that mean Echo's coming with me," Zeno says cheerfully, though quite honestly, he really doesn't want her to be there. Maybe that made him a terrible friend, but he felt like something was going to go wrong and he didn't think she'd be strong enough to handle it. The guilt swamps him briefly, but he firmly reasons it away, silently shaking his head as he helps Echo up to the second level of the Tundra, setting off at a steady jog to get to the last one. He's halfway there by Echo's reckoning when the stand-out of black and bright pink catches his eye. Zeno halts in his tracks, tugging Echo behind a pillar with him. The odd noise reaches through to his ears again, and he shakes his head, his grip turning painfully tight on Echo's arm before the girl can speak. Echo cuts whatever she was going to say off with a hiss of pain, and he mouths a silent apology to her, trailing behind the stranger carefully. They're intent on _something_ , Zeno realizes, watches the stranger poke around the tundra without the faintest hint of subtlety. Echo's cottoned on that something's not quite right, and obediently keeps her trap shut while they follow behind the mystery stranger. They give him the fucking _creeps_. It's not until he sees the gleam of their mask that it clicks, an unaware Kazue within eyesight.

" _They had this purple reflective mask, and they never said anything…_ " Her words had been afraid, and now this _thing_ was still after her. He doesn't think.

He _moves._ In a heartbeat, he stands between Kazue and the blade, tilting his weapon at the right angle to have them harmlessly glance off one another. The impact jars Zeno. It fucking _hurts_ , Zeno thinks, rubbing his arm with a wince as he glowers at the opposing enemy.

"Are you okay?" He skips the endearments and the explanations, instead herding Kazue back towards Echo without a thought for how it looked. The masked being tilts their head, openly watching him.

"I-I'm fine." Kazue's hesitant stutter stokes the burning heat of his rage – she's a lot of things but being openly afraid was _not_ one Zeno was happy about. He glowers at the opponent, eyes narrowing.

"Good. I guess they won't die after all." He says flatly. "I'll just make them _want_ to." When the masked being lifts their blade, Zeno doesn't hesitate to ready his own.

He'd sooner die than let this bastard touch his student.


	15. Interlude: Persona

How… _interesting_. I take a moment to note the shift of his posture. It's far more fluid than I last remember. Behind him, my other self appears nervous behind his frame, holding the piece that I desperately need to fulfil my love's last wish. I say nothing however. I've been on both sides, I know what he's going to say –

"Kazue, is this the fucker following you?"

That was new. She nods behind him, speaking quietly enough that I can't hear, and behind my mask I frown. This was not part of the plan. The boy – man – _friend_ – is viewing me with hate in his gaze from her words, and I know that something is wrong. He has never treated me – any of my personas in my infinite loops – in such a manner. Zeno has always been gentle. Somewhat dense to Echo, to his own feelings and power.

I sense none of that. There's a heavy resolve in him, nothing like his usual wariness. He's normally afraid to fight a fellow ARKs. Something has changed. There's strength in him rather than fear, a set to his lips that I find unfamiliar. I level my blade, unwilling to cut him down, but unable to see any other choice. I've memorized his combat skills to the letter – he shouldn't be able to surprise me at all.

"Interfere and I'll cut you down," I say to them. Behind him, both of his companions are ready to defend themselves if so be it. Zeno's scowl is familiar, but only that.

"Not if I do it first." He growls back, and Echo gasps behind him, shocked. I would be too, my mask coming in handy as I gape at him from behind the reflective lens. The Zeno I knew had always loathed to take a life – always afraid to harm those he cared for and even those who he didn't. What had changed? What had I done to make this loop different? Kazue's hand touches his elbow, and he doesn't look back, but he relaxes a little, waiting.

For _me_ to make the first move. No impulsiveness, no hot-headedness. Immediate caution more suited to the child I had taught than the adult who had rushed about to fight. I eye him dubiously, before lunging in to strike at his torso. For the second time, he stuns me – he does not yield his ground, allows the girls behind him to scramble to safety and instead lashes out at an angle that knocks my double saber up, shifting to a gunslash last minute to fire a round to my mask.

It's instinct to dodge away, spin my weapon in a spiraling circle to deflect another bullet, and put distance between him and I. He's watching me, gaze accusing and silent. Chattiness is gone, replaced by solemn silence, twisted grip and fierce scowl. This frightens me, in more ways than one. Xion had assured me that such deviation was an impossibility, yet here it stood before me in his existence.

For the first time in countless cycles, I am at a loss at what to do. I've looped through this timeline in the endless, twisted formations of it, and it had barely deviated from script. My eyes flick to Kazue once more, and the girl's weapon surprises me. A _Force_? How could holding on to my base class do such massive damage to Xion's plans? I ready my blade regardless. Zeno had been predictable, but now I would have trouble retrieving my objective no matter what.

She watches me, her gaze full of fear. Fear is understandable. Fear is recognizable. It is to be expected. She had hidden behind Zeno, just like I had hidden behind him, and yet – his protectiveness is more for her than it is for Echo.

I watch, I learn, and I worry. This is not Xion's plan. Xion… Xion had not _planned_ for this. Zeno has not flinched from his position, his blade steady and resolute. I test the waters, lunging forward to catch his blade, twist it free from his grip. He catches, but his fingers do not slacken over the handle. Instead, he presses forward, shifting his hand up to slide the axis of our combined weapons together, a screech of metal setting me on edge. He moves _in_ to my guard, removing one hand to curl into a fist, aiming for my mask.

I shove back, and he parries, pulls his hand away as he lets go of his weapon. It lands point first and I stumble over the change. It changes in a flash, Zeno lunging forward to pull his blade free, a kick from his leg knocking my double saber off kilter as he aims the blade for my throat. I have heartbeats to block, and I twist, spiraling my beloved Doublis in a twisting circle to deflect and turn it away. He doesn't even stumble, instead skipping back a few feet to protectively place himself between Kazue and me. Echo hovers in the wings with her, and she is watching him intently, confused and shocked. She doesn't recognize this new Zeno, and while I remember his training with Maria, I distinctly recall it being much later in the timeline. I scowl to myself. I dislike my constants changing on me. Regardless, I lunge forward, use my superior speed to accelerate to nearly imperceptible speeds, aiming for his heart.

Dark blue eyes narrow at me, and he parries excellently, twisting his body out of the way to knock my weapon aside in silent irritation.

"You two back off. I'll be fine dealing with this traitor myself," he says to the girls, and Kazue moves to protest. "Don't make me turn this into an order," his tone brooks no room for argument, words harsh, and the two of them back away. He wasn't that strong – was he? I watch him, and decide on another test, aiming for the girls this time as they attempt to get away. He interferes without a hitch, sacrificing some mobility – and an injury to his shoulder – to protect them. Blood wells from the hit, but he doesn't so much as twitch, watching me instead with a sardonic smile, lips curved up as he ignores the pain. And there _must_ be pain. The concentration of negaphotons would not be kind to flesh free of Darker Factor. But he doesn't flinch, though the brief roll of his arm shows his mobility is unhindered, though obviously painful. I observe my weapon, note that it's chipped. When had he managed _that?_

"You shouldn't be interfering," I say, and Zeno barks a laugh at me, darkly amused.

"Aren't you? Interfering with an ARKs mission?" I still, and it takes a moment before I realize he's talking about my _current_ actions. Zeno's uncanny ability to predict the future and speak such words still surprises me. Zeno's expression turns dark, and I realize my hesitation must have shown somehow in the way I paused. "How many more have you interfered in?" His gaze is almost frightening, and this time he attacks _me_. I move to dodge, but instead he pivots, allows his blade to disappear as he replaces it in a single movement with a gunslash, aiming another shot to my mask. I dodge and he follows me, swapping to a sword in heartbeats to drive the edge of his weapon in the space I was to moving to occupy, forcing me to backpedal out of the way in a panic. Shit shit _shit_. I don't like this, especially the cocksure way he smiled at me – as though he'd known I would react in such a manner. He expects no answers from me, and after my inadvertent admission, immediately seeks my destruction, manipulating his blade about in rapid, spiraling patterns that I was forced to match if only to preserve myself.

Setting the pace, forcing me to stay with his tempo, learning my patterns faster than I was learning his new one – this was a disadvantage I disliked immensely, and irritated, I catch his weapon on the hilt of my own, twisting to deliver a painful strike to his already injured shoulder. This one leaves a mark, and he hisses softly through his teeth. Despite that, my victory is short-lived as he seems to catch something out of the corner of his eye. I can't see what it is, but he abruptly shoves me back, the blood of his injury soaking into the red fabric of his preferred jacket. There's a bit of purple running through it, and I feel inexplicably guilty for causing him enough harm that my essence had bled through. He doesn't seem to care, ignoring the pain his body was begging him to notice and instead aiming for my mask. I dodge again, expecting another gunslash and shot.

A partisan ripping through the air is not part of my plan. I knock the long haft aside, switching to a blade to give myself a greater defense against his unrelenting force. I knew he was a proficient melee fighter – hazy memories of my time spent under him as a student had been quite informative and had even inspired my love for Double Sabers – but he had rarely used it outside of training me.

He has no such compunctions now, using every weapon at his disposal to trip me, blades shearing through the air to slice at my clothing, my hair, my mask. He wields melee like he is _born_ to them, all heat and darkness and glowing blue edges as he drives me further and further back towards the sloping canyon walls of the tundra, attempting to corner me. He knows the risk, how dangerous that must be, but still, he seems to believe _something_ can be done if I am backed into such a position. The wind picks up, though the snowstorm has yet to hit.

I had been _long_ gone before this had darkened the tundra, and it highlights the difference in his power, in his ability. He pulls no punches, and quite literally uses his good arm to punch me, sending me skidding back as he abruptly makes distance. A sudden rumble, and I look up.

The massive quantity of snow that slams into me is _very fucking annoying_.

Now that I had experienced being buried alive by snow, I can honestly say that it is the most aggravating experience of my many, _many_ lives and I would much rather never have it happen again. It's my plan to leave, recoup with Xion about the drastic change when I hear voices.

"I should yell at you both." I still, listening intently rather than simply leaving as I had planned. "What part of _get the fuck out_ wasn't clear? I doubt the fucker is dead." He must be speaking to Kazue and Echo. I hear an indistinct reply from them both, and I warp to a more covert location to better listen in.

"I'm sorry… I think the snow should at least slow them down?" Kazue sounds deeply apologetic, her hand wavering over his injured shoulder. She seems unsure of what to do, and I am briefly surprised by myself. I had never been unsure. Xion's guidance had been my rock, my security during this time. Yet she seems thrown, as though Xion had not predicted this. "You're injured…" Her guilt lays thick in her tone, and Zeno rolls his shoulder again, ignores the bleeding purple that oozes out. I wince at the sight of it – with part of my beloved weapon broken off inside of his shoulder, it would be immensely painful.

"Yeah, that's going to hurt like a bitch," Zeno agrees without thinking. Echo seems deeply annoyed at being left out, and I wonder if this is a common thing she experiences. "Nothing a pair of tweezers and some patience won't fix. I think something broke off in it." He chuckles without humor, and Kazue and Echo's expressions mirror each other in their worry. Behind my mask, I do the same. Kazue makes to smack his good arm, stops, obviously hesitant to harm him further. Echo has no such compunction, and I wince on his behalf when she jostles his body. Pain flashes over his features, but Echo – standing behind him once again – fails to notice, though Kazue scurries over to help him when he bends over, his skin flushing with pain as he forces himself upright. He manages a tight smile for her at least.

"We should get out of the storm," Kazue says, giving Echo a look, who has the grace to at least look apologetic for the injury she had aggravated. "I don't think we can find a telepipe back in this weather quickly enough, and that shoulder really needs to be looked at." She settles around his injured side protectively, and he flashes her a smile, Echo left in their wake.

I watch the girl scowl at them and wonder how long it will be before her possessiveness over her oldest friend rears its head. I watch them go until they're out of sight, and the presence behind me grows ever stronger.

"Xion." I greet her curtly, pulling my mask off in respect. She says nothing, watching the place they had occupied with growing interest. She twists her wrist elegantly, strands of the Akashic Record coalescing around her fingertips. I do not press her, allow Xion her ways. She is quietly thoughtful, a change from her bored and tired countenance.

"My Matter Board has changed." She says to me at last, and shock ripples through my system. "There is a new inevitability now that you have done battle with Zeno." I open my mouth to speak, before closing it. "He's changed. Your influence in his past is flexible, the things you taught him lack guidance." Her words are carefully measured – hesitant to blame me.

It's alright. I will blame myself plenty. She gives me a chiding look as though she knows my thoughts and continues. "It was inevitable. I see what may come, the foreshadowing of the record." A smile blooms over her face – a rarity these days. "We have experienced hundreds of thousands of repetitions of this lifetime together," Xion chuckles breathily, her head tilting towards the sky. "Our future is uncertain but for the two inevitable ends." Her eyes close, and she lifts her hands to offer me a new stream of possibilities. "Discard your old Matter Board." The ephemeral existence of her hands weave for me a new future, and in it I see a glimpse of a path that I had inadvertently set into motion. "We have a new future to protect."


	16. Shelter

"Hold still!" Kazue insists, wielding tweezers like a weapon. Echo, from where she is sitting with the first aid kit, snickers. He scowls at his best friend in deep annoyance while Kazue pulls the threads of his jacket out of his injury. It stings every so often, but he bites down on his lip rather than voice the pain – he would rather spare her the guilt. However by the rueful expression on her normally intent features, Kazue is well aware that she is causing him pain. She delicately heats the tweezers in the flames of their makeshift camp, setting it in some alcohol to sterilize.

"Sorry minion," Zeno grins amusedly at her, obligingly lifting an arm so she can cut the rest of the jacket sleeve off before cutting him out of the material. "I'm just naturally fidgety." Her unimpressed look tells him what she thinks of that idea, and he grins. Yeah, after watching him snipe a couple dozen natives in total stillness for over an hour she probably didn't think much of that excuse. She pulls the tweezers out of the small glass of rubbing alcohol once she was done, before tucking a towel under his arm and over the wound.

"Naturally fidgety my pretty little derriere," Kazue mutters, and Zeno chokes a laugh back at the look on Echo's face. "You can hold still just fine." He reduces his laughter to vaguely strangled chuckles, and Echo's not sure who to glare at more – him or Kazue. She's fully intent on her work, soft fingertips pushing at the torn skin as delicately as she could while pulling strands of red out of the flesh. "You need to wear clothing that isn't red," she advises him without looking up while she nudges another strand away from the mess before clamping firmly down on it with the tweezers.

"Oh come on, it's not that hard to see it, is it?" He would look, but Kazue pokes her finger under his jaw, keeps him from looking down.

"Don't move," the tweezers pull and this time he feels the faint sting of a thread as it peels free of his skin from where it had stuck. "That would have been stuck if you did." She's scolding him in her own way, and he smiles apologetically at her even though she won't see it. She rinses the utensil, sticking it in the fire and then the alcohol again, the hiss of it lost in the raging storm outside. He glances outside to see if any Natives have caught sight of the cave they'd taken shelter in, and Echo catches his look.

"Hold on," Echo stands up, smoothing her skirt. "I'll cover up the entryway and we can pull out one of the emergency lights to give you a better look at it." Kazue flashes a grateful smile at Echo, before picking up another plastic cup and pouring some alcohol into it. She firmly braces Zeno's shoulder, and the adult blinks.

"Kazue, what are you – _Fucking shit!_ " Zeno curses when the burn spreads through the injury, and he barely refrains from flinching. "What the actual _hell_ Kazue!" He's not happy, and as Echo finishes blocking the exit, the emergency light fills their space with stark white to allow better viewing. She's staring at the wound intently, a deep frown on her face.

"You're still bleeding purple," she says, and Zeno sighs. "I think I can get at what's causing it, but it'll hurt. More than just rinsing out the wound with alcohol." While Zeno doesn't like the idea of someone fishing out a piece of a photon blade, he likes the idea of leaving it in his shoulder to kill his mobility even less. Echo returns, and she peers over Kazue's shoulder.

"It's really bad… you sure it'll be safe to remove it?" Kazue chews her lip at Echo's words, and Zeno chances a look, only for Kazue's finger to poke under his chin and keep him from shifting his body.

"I'm going to have to. Either it stays and the infection spreads, or Zeno bleeds a little more than normal until he can see the head medic," Kazue says, pushing up on her knees to reach eye level. "It's up to you though," Her expression is torn – she obviously wanted to help but wasn't willing to make the choice for him. He smiles down at her, wishes he could hug her.

"Better to get it out minion," he says cheerfully, trying to put on a brave face for her. She makes a little face at him for the nickname but doesn't smack him for it the way she usually does, which he takes to mean his shoulder looks really fucking bad. "Kaz?" He tries to say the words gently, and she looks up at him from where she'd knelt back down to observe the jagged gash. Echo is almost an afterthought in their conversation, and Zeno realizes it after a moment. She doesn't look annoyed for once, and he realizes that she's watching the injury more intently than he'd realized. He must have looked like shit if she was actually concerned for him over being annoyed. He feels soft fingers touch the edges of his wound, and he hisses slightly. Shit. That fucking _hurt_. She freezes, and he waves his good hand, encouraging her to get it out. She smiles timidly at him before returning to her task, tweezers freshly sanitized and pushing the flesh aside to reach at the jagged piece. Her first attempt misses, and so do the second and third. The fourth jostles it, and it takes every ounce of his willpower to not just scream in pain when it scrapes against bone.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She's definitely upset with herself, and Zeno lifts his free hand to rest it on her head gently. His thumb rubs over her hair, and he feels the tiny lump of her growing horns. She settles more at that, and he wonders why. Her fifth attempt is successful, and she takes care to free it as cleanly and gently as possible. It hurts – the irregularity of it, the razor's edges… He slumps over her shoulder the moment it's out, and while Kazue is carefully putting the broken blade in alcohol to clean it, he focuses on his shoulder. He can look at it, and when he does, Zeno can't help the wince that leaves him, hand sliding off Kazue's head.

Veins of purple are crawling from it, sluggish tendrils cutting through clean red lines giving him an idea of what it must have looked like before.

"Pantheon above," Zeno breathes, horrified by the sight. He's seen his fair share of Darker infected wounds, but never one this nasty. Echo takes over while Kazue seals up the evidence, mopping up the blood and using a fresh pair of tweezers to pull the purple gunk out of his injury. He curses at the sudden pain, gripping on to something and squeezing until it creaks in his grasp. When Echo pulls it free and hands it to Kazue, he looks down at what he'd grabbed and winces. The handle of his sword is ruined, the metal having bent and splintered around his fingers. Shit. He had a spare, but this one was a good weapon. He groans in annoyance, allows Echo to tend to the wound as she stems the blood. "I'm guessing we can't just heal this up quickly?" He asks, and Echo shakes her head.

"No sorry." She sounds regretful, gently pats his good arm. "Philia might actually kill me. We can stem the flow of blood but that's it – it needs a good scan and probably a reactivity test." Kazue looks over at him, her expression torn, and when Echo looks away, she mouths a name to him.

 _Casra?_ He pauses, gaze flicking down to the two collected samples. The blade is still within the suspension it had been sealed into, though the liquid is darkening steadily as it continues to emit photons. The other one is double-sealed in both suspended liquid and a Photon negation case. Even then, it thrashes about weakly.

He looks away, queasy. When the nausea passes, he looks her over and bites his lower lip. Casra is the lesser of two evils – he would still prefer Philia, but if he had to pick, Casra would beat Luther every time. He couldn't give it to Philia without going into mandatory cryosleep, and after his last experience in that hellhole, he'd rather fucking not. His opportunity to answer passes when Echo looks up, and he forces a smile to his face as she wraps the bandage around his shoulder.

Covert communications – he needed to start Kazue on it. Gingerly touching his shoulder, Zeno thinks darkly to himself that he needs to do a lot of things with her. He'd been slack, working her at a decent pace but not a _good_ one. She could take more tutelage, harder hours, heavier work. He just… hadn't. Something had _stopped_ him. He scowls a little to himself because he couldn't slack any further – not when his little minion had someone who was actively interfering in ARKs on her tail. She's still waiting on his say so, and he gives a tight, bitten smile, nods minutely. Kazue smiles back weakly in return, tucking them away into her storage. She's obviously concerned for him, and he leans back against the wall, twitches his fingers in invitation. She notices _that_ , obviously, taking the offer to hug him at face value, burying her face in his chest. Echo looks deeply annoyed once more, but before she can say anything, a muffled sound leaves Kazue. It sounds suspiciously like a sob, and her face softens at Kazue with such open sympathy that Zeno is surprised by it.

"'m sorry," the girl hiccups, and Zeno reaches his good hand up to carefully ruffle her hair, settling on the tiny horns. "You weren't supposed to get hurt," she sounds so upset, and Zeno feels her bury herself deeper into his arms. "If I'd been better – I could have helped you and you wouldn't have gotten injured." Kazue's sniffling, and he gently ruffles her hair again, reassuring her without words, resting his head on her own. After a moment, he gives an internal sigh and opens his arm out for Echo too. No need for his friend to feel lonely. She smiles sympathetically at him, instead poking the fire to a dull roar of warmth and moving to sit on his good side. Echo raises a hand to rest it on Kazue's head too, and Zeno smiles a little, glad to see that Echo isn't holding Kazue's distressed state against her. It takes the normally composed girl a few minutes to stop crying, and she's mortified at herself when she realizes she's essentially cried all over him. He chuckles at her, expression ruefully amused when she stutters an apology.

"It's okay Kazue," he reassures her, while Echo lets Kazue go and he ruffles her thick hair again. "We can fix it. You're still alive, and you're determined now. Don't you worry." Kazue's tiny little huff is soft, barely warming his chest, but he can feel how relieved she is that he isn't angry. Her body goes slack in his arms, and she relaxes against him, relief in her slumped posture. "For now, we should focus on what we're going to have to do after this storm lets up. I'm ninety percent sure we lost contact with Rogio after that bastard attacked us." Kazue pales, and she looks even more distressed.

"Oh no – Rogio's going to be sick with worry," she sounds devastated, and Zeno pats the top of her head again gently. "Stupid stupid _stupid_ ," she berates herself, and Zeno has to catch her from tugging on her hair like she always did when frustrated.

"Whoa – hey!" Zeno turns his most scolding expression down at her, and she wilts a little at his tone. "Don't hit yourself," his tone is dark, and she apologetically lays her head against his chest. He gives a soft smile, lays his hand back where it belongs. Echo gives a slightly pointed cough, her grace period over for their affectionate bonding. A flash of irritation sparks in him, and he only just prevents himself from glaring at her for ruining Kazue's calm. The girl jerks up at the realization, and Zeno gives an annoyed little sigh at Echo. "Don't worry – Rogio will be glad that you're okay." He smiles down at his student rather than act on his annoyance, and she manages a small one in return.

Their little moment is broken by a high-pitched whine, and on reflex, Zeno flinches in time with Kazue. After a moment, Rogio comes online.

 _ **There you guys are! I'm glad I got back into contact with you all – I was about to send out the calvary.**_ The young scientist's words made Zeno's lips curl up, and he gives a breathy little chuckle, using his good hand to press against his communication device.

"And exactly who would our cavalry be?" Zeno allows the faintest air of amusement in his tone, and Rogio isn't the one who answers.

 _ **My, I didn't think I'd be**_ **that** _ **forgettable**_ , Casra's warm voice chuckles over the air, and Zeno's not the only one who jumps. _**Are you three alright?**_ His concern is palpable, and Zeno smiles slightly at the words. _**The storm is rather nasty – and you're reading as injured Zeno – What happened?**_ Zeno appreciates the thought despite the fact that having Casra aware of his injury still bothered him despite their mutual agreement from the week before.

"We're holding on – but if you don't mind…" Zeno hesitates. The idea of trusting Casra with something like this when he was so close to Luther was frankly a little terrifying, but it had to be done. He'd be _damned_ if he let a monster touch his student. "I'd like to give you my mission report in person."


	17. Meeting

"I'm on low-activity until further notice," Zeno tells Kazue the next morning, who had dutifully waited for him after he'd been rushed into the Medical Center. She looks deeply disappointed, but he slings his good arm around her shoulder, ruffles her hair until she smiles at him like she's supposed to. "Don't worry minion. It's not like you'll have a shortage of people bothering you – Casra's still available, and I'm sure he'll be thrilled to lend you a hand in return for helping him with those godawful notes."

And weren't _those_ a mess? Sure, there was plenty of them to decipher, but when they all were about _feeling_ and ratios of emotion to output, Zeno couldn't understand _shit_ and half of the time neither did Casra. Kazue seemed to have far more luck, and he wondered sometimes about that. He could help solve mathematical arrays and all of the other technical shit, but the purely descriptive notes he left to Kazue.

"They aren't nearly that bad," Casra's amused tone makes them both look over their shoulder, and while Casra _seems_ to be in a good mood, the almost tense air around him made it clear that whatever was going on, he _wasn't_ happy. "Though I'll still be delighted to offer a hand while Zeno is indisposed." He's smiling pleasantly, but Zeno's been around the man long enough to know he was in a tenuous position. The man leans over, and Zeno has to hold his breath when Casra speaks quietly into his ear. "We have a problem. After your debrief, we need to talk about Miss Kazue – I found out a few more things that you might want to know." The words weren't condemnatory, but they weren't positive either, leaving a feeling of dread to creep over his spine. Kazue observes them curiously, at least Zeno, and Zeno flashes her a smile. "Come along," Casra waves them forward, mild smile never fading from his face. "I have a room already secured for our discussion." His words are now at a normal volume, and while obviously curious, Kazue doesn't press the matter, willing to let some things pass on his behalf for the moment.

Casra holds up a finger before Kazue can talk, silently sealing the room from any and all interference, and Zeno whistles lowly – quietly enough that Kazue can just barely hear him. Casra was _serious_. Zeno glances around, but sees nothing out of the ordinary, though he can't for the life of him dismiss the feeling of someone in the same room that he couldn't see. Kazue notices his unease, and she tucks her legs up, leans against him and rests her head on his shoulder rather than just sitting primly on the chair as she usually did. Something about it is just soothing, knowing she has his back if something got dicey – and given that it's Casra, Zeno can't shake the feeling that there's a test somewhere in this. Casra raises an eyebrow, but his wry expression doesn't change in the slightest, the information specialist taking a seat across from them.

"I only had an hour to study what you sent my way," Casra skips the typical pleasantries, clearly not in the mood for them, "and what I found was… disturbing, to say the least. The weapon is not one of ARKs – it uses similar technology but the manufacturing of it is vastly different. For that _alone_ it's suspicious, but the lack of a discernable origin implies that whoever or whatever made it is distinctly not human in the broadest sense of the term." Zeno stiffens, and so does Kazue, who looks deeply disturbed by the information. Casra eyes them both, before giving one of his little, faint smiles, though it fades.

"The parasite you pulled free from Zeno is another story." His purple gaze is half-hidden behind both his glasses and the glare of the lights, but what is there is unyieldingly hard, the brilliant light flickering ominously behind his eyes. It's the slightest flicker of rage, and Zeno feels a chill race up his spine. "It's a subjugation parasite of some sort – you got it out before any serious damage occurred, but alongside your low activity, I'll be monitoring your photon signature somewhat regularly." He slides his glasses down to pin Zeno with a sharp look, and he smiles wryly.

"I'm not going to wriggle out of this," he says dryly, though Kazue eyes him skeptically from the corner of his eyes. "I saw the way I looked when you got that thing out of my shoulder," he clarifies for his minion's sake. "I looked like _shit_." She wants to protest on his behalf, but he slides a glance her way, gives a crooked little smirk and she pouts at him despite it being the truth. "Sorry minion, but it's true." She scowls at him, and Casra coughs delicately to stop the impending argument.

"Thank you for that," Casra smiles at them both. "I'll be holding you to your word then, I hope you realize it." He sounds utterly serious, and Zeno chuckles deeply in amusement.

"I expected nothing less," Zeno agrees wryly, his smile blooming over his face as he enjoys their banter. Kazue, as usual, has much of it fly over her head – the subtleties of their choice of words and inflection beyond her as of right now. "But what else is there? You wouldn't just seal the room for that, would you?" Zeno tilts his head, and Casra acknowledges the point as he slides his glasses up back where they belong, leaning back against his seat and giving a little sigh, the good humor fading from his expression.

"It's a bit sudden, but I'd like to officially have you both work with me." Both share a look askance, and Zeno's eyes narrow slightly at Casra. They'd been working together _before_ this, but the distinction could not go unnoticed, _especially_ when Zeno was there. Casra's smile is milder at Zeno's reaction, and Kazue looks between them, somewhere between annoyed and amused.

"You two need a subtitles option," she complains, and Casra laughs outright at her blunt response. Zeno doesn't bother hiding his grin, and she punches him in the shoulder gently, scowling. (apparently, she wouldn't dream of doing the same to Casra yet, though the glance she gives him definitely implies if she was more relaxed with him, he would have gotten a punch of his own.)

"What _you_ need is lessons on how to read people," Zeno corrects, and Kazue's expression twitches minutely with interest. "Which I do want to cover."

"As do I." Casra interjects into their conversation, his arms on the table as he leans over slightly. "Your submitted report to me was disturbing in more ways than one," he continues, sliding a significant look Zeno's way. "Particularly the part where this possible Falz-level entity is strictly targeting _you_ , Kazue. I've seen Zeno put you through your paces, but it's not enough – no offense meant." The latter was added as a platitude, and Zeno shrugs agreeably.

"Believe me, after facing that bastard myself I'm in complete agreement." Zeno winces at the reminder of how he'd received his injury, mentally comparing his current growth against his old skills. That would have been _awful._

"Then this works out," Casra says the words with a smile, tilting his head in an endearingly cheery manner. "I can take care of heavy physical training – I specialize in outlasting enemies, not offensively attacking them, and you can teach whatever subtle techniques and skills you think she should know." Zeno's eyes narrow. That… was almost _too_ neat. Casra notices his glance but doesn't visibly shake his head – not while Kazue is paying such close attention to them. Kazue glances between them again, but Zeno doesn't give anything away, and she gives them both a faintly disgusted look.

"I'm surrounded by chessmasters," she mutters, and Zeno can't help but smile apologetically at his little minion, ruffle her hair. As is his wont, he settles his hand on the tiny horns once more. She smiles up at him, though she still shakes her head at their actions. "Okay, fine – death by Talis and Gunslash it is. Anything else I need to do before my impending demise?" Zeno knows he's going to get a mild chewing out later from her about herding her into deciding this without asking, but he'll take the heat if he can get answers out of Casra for why he was so interested in it after she'd left.

"Technically, nothing really has to change. But if you two agree, then I have a bit more… hmm." He tilts his head, visibly searching for the correct words. "Official _leeway_ would be the best answer, I suppose, in my interactions with you. I don't spend much time with people outside of you two, and it's starting to draw notice. By claiming you – if only temporarily – as employees under my division, then I gain more freedom in the time I choose to spend with you and how often." His words are measured; even but for the light tremor of humor in it. "It also protects you both from unsavory… rumors." Zeno raises an eyebrow, and Casra winces delicately. "There's been a few colorful rumors about a relationship between the three of us." Kazue jerks back, cheeks pink, and Zeno can't help it.

He snickers. The smack to his arm is totally deserved, but it's funny to him that for a military organization, ARKs is so obviously fueled by rumors.

"I've heard a few of those," Zeno says with good humor. "There's some really interesting ones out there." Like the one about him and Casra being seduced by her feminine wiles… that one was funny for a whole host of reasons, chief among them being that Kazue didn't seem to even notice when people were flirting with her, let alone flirt back.

 _Hello pot,_ he thinks dryly to himself for a moment, recalling his youth with Echo.

"… I hate you both." Kazue's head is in her hands, and Casra's lips are curled into an almost darkly amused smile. "You knew about this? I've been getting invitations out for lunch and coffee and dinner and I've been turning them down for weeks because of these pantheon-damned rumors. Any time I think it's genuine they show their true colors and it's not _funny_ ," she growls at them, and Zeno pats her head gently, making her turn her doleful glare at him.

"It's funny?" He offers, and Kazue buries her head back in her hands, speechless. That was _probably_ a little mean, but his minion was tough – surely, she could handle it. "I'm sorry minion – there's only two things off duty ARKs are good for – fashion and gossip, and not many of us are good at the former." She eyes him, and spitefully jabs back in return.

"I suppose you're both proof of that." Zeno coughs to avoid laughing, because Casra is distinctly unimpressed, the edge of a pout curling over his lips.

"I'm not that bad." He counters, and Kazue snorts, but says nothing. "… Joking aside, I'm afraid that what's left of this conversation won't be for your ears – you lack the clearance to listen in." Kazue looks up at Zeno first, and it warms him, her immediate check to see if he was okay rather than just leaving right away. He smiles down at her, ruffles her hair again, feeling the silky strands slip through his fingers as she sighs and makes to leave.

"Alright, fine." She concedes with ill grace, giving him a light hug before bidding Casra a polite goodbye, patting his shoulder once. Casra waves a friendly goodbye, and when she's gone – and the room is re-sealed, Zeno drops the friendly tone their conversations had previously had.

"Your lack of subtlety is astounding," he deadpans, and Casra pulls his glasses off, rubbing at his eyes with a deep sigh. The change in his usually rigid demeanor makes Zeno's eyes narrow even further.

"I wasn't trying for it in this case." His purple eyes are tired – as though he'd aged several years in the span of a few seconds. After a moment, Casra takes his hat off as well, setting it aside and looking Zeno over. "I was hoping that we could talk about this first before we approach Kazue with this in any manner." His stomach drops at the forbidding tone. "Her mother was part of a legacy genetics product that got revived recently within the last three years." Zeno's breath catches, and his good hand grips the arm of the chair. "She's kept her identity quiet so far, but I don't expect it to last forever, and Kazue is at severe risk the longer she continues on her missions without a Councilmember keeping an eye out for her." Zeno eyes him again, suspicious.

"So you offered out of the generosity of your heart?" He's skeptical – Casra might be a kindred spirit in how they were growing up, but Casra was always a man with a plan and an agenda. There was no way he'd take on something as monumental as _sheltering_ Kazue without a serious motive. And as though he was reading Zeno's mind, Casra rolls his eyes.

"Don't be stupid. We both know I want something out of this." Casra's expression tells him more than enough about the kind of answer he's going to receive. "And what I want is to keep her out of Luther's greedy little mitts."

 _Whoa_. Zeno didn't know much about Casra's relationship with his boss, aside from the fact that it was distinctly… different to any other relationships between the enigmatic head of the research division and the rest of the Council of Six. Luther was spoken of with a mix between fear and respect by those who knew him, and those that didn't often tried to stay out of his way, as the few retaliations he'd ever engaged in spoke of a nasty, suspicious mind. Zeno had only met the man once, and quite briefly at that, after being allowed to graduate as the youngest ARKs in the history of the programme.

He still had nightmares about it, and he wasn't going to lie. The man screamed _danger_. And he'd held a _vested_ interest in Zeno's early graduation before Maria had bluntly suggested he back off and see how he developed. He'd been in too much pain back then, but now he could recognize the protection for what it was.

"I thought you worked with the man." Zeno points out, and Casra's smile twists wickedly.

"You technically work with Gettemholt," he rebuts, and Zeno winces at the remark. The depth of the comparison isn't lost on him, and he has to wonder what Luther got up to that Casra would make that a point to reply with. "Luther has a problem of _breaking_ ARKs and then dismissing them once he has. I'm rather… _annoyed_ with him when he does that, as I'm sure you can guess – but breaking a perfectly good ARKs isn't my idea of a good time." Zeno tenses at the words, eyes narrowing suspiciously at Casra with the words he speaks. "I'm an information specialist – and I've long since learned the usefulness of keeping people able to work without making them a nervous wreck." Casra's serious gaze is firm, and Zeno concedes the point with a tilt of his head.

"Point made," he pushes back, hands up as he accepts defeat. Casra's a lot of things – sadist being one of them – but he wasn't one for needless harm when he had use of someone or something. "You're protecting her?" Casra's expression is slightly odd – as though he'd expected a greater fight only to not get one, but he rallies himself admirably and responds.

"To a degree – I can't protect her if Luther gets _too_ curious but having her under my metaphorical wing gives me a greater degree of control over what he views of her personal information – _including_ who her mother was." Zeno doesn't quite choke, but it's close. It's the closest he's gotten to Casra's true motives, and the enigmatic third's secrets. He's not entirely sure yet, but it's growing clearer who Casra really is, and how he thinks of both him and Kazue.

There's loyalty there, and it runs _deep_. Zeno pushes up slightly, wincing at the feel of his injured arm, and Casra's gaze sharpens.

"Speaking of," he continues casually, his smile reappearing, "I believe you wanted to submit your report to me in person? You might as well do it now." Zeno watches the almost anxious way Casra watches _him_ , and he nods sharply.

Maybe this wouldn't be a bad idea after all.


	18. Lessons

"Ow." Kazue's smoking when she flops by his side, and Zeno looks away from his scope long enough to see the singed clothing, her bruised arms, and chuckle. Her cheeks puff out at his teasing tone, but she pushes herself back against his body, obviously reluctant to give up his warmth. "He's almost as bad as _you_ ," she complains to Zeno, and he can't help laughing at her, pulling away from his targets to relax and ruffle her hair. It's only the first day, but he can't help but smile fondly at her, kiss the top of her head.

"You on break?" He asks, and she scowls up at him, Casra finally making an appearance, his gunslash settled against the small of his back. The adult takes one look at them and gives a chuckle of his own, gracefully settling down to sit by their side. He reaches out, before hesitating and giving Zeno a cautious glance. Zeno rolls his eyes, and Kazue smiles at him, encouraging the adult to settle his hand on her head and ruffle the thick mop of hair.

"For now I suppose," Casra sighs indulgently, relaxing against Zeno's back while the sniper chuckles at them both. "Though we will get back to it in ten minutes – If you think I'm letting you run around unprepared to deal with a Falz long enough for backup to arrive you have another thing coming." Kazue doesn't protest, but he can feel her wilt against his back, making him roll his eyes fondly.

"Give her fifteen," Zeno suggests. "That way she can stretch herself out before you drag her back into hell." The downright _grateful_ look she gives him makes his mouth curve up into a smile, and Casra leans back further, clearly considering. His comm unit pings, and at a glance, he sighs.

"Fine. Fifteen. But only because I have some work to go through." Kazue gives a relieved noise against Zeno's back, and he smiles wryly, returning to his scope. It takes him a moment to focus back on the target he'd been tracking – a notable little Agnis with a unique blue feather pattern. He wasn't trying to shoot it this time, merely observe and improve his tracking ability. His skills buzz to life, and he feels his awareness of the two behind him acutely, feels their humming energy. It's… nice, having them there, feeling their warmth and their aura. It's nice to have backup, and they're a soothing presence while they're there, Kazue taking a well-deserved catnap on him while Casra sorts files. There's no need to fill the air with endless chatter, and Zeno can concentrate on his target as it lazily soars through the air. After a while, he gets bored of just following it around, instead pushing his skill to see if he could predict where it would go.

The mercurial moods of both the wind and thermals that it rode on was trickier than following the Agnis itself, he muses thoughtfully, watching it angle to catch a thermal and tumble tail over teakettle when it misjudged. Zeno adjusts accordingly, feels the faintest ghost of amusement as he watches it. It's young enough to still make those kinds of mistakes. He lets a whisper of a chuckle leave his lips, before steadying his breath and aiming for where he'd predicted it to be.

He breathes in slowly, aims for his target, and fires.

The Agnis jerks in the air, shot perfectly through the head, and spirals down back into the forest. Zeno allows himself a moment of rare pleasure. Not yet there, but he was slowly reaching his old skill level. He doesn't jump when Casra leans over, having caught the shot and the fall. They watch together, Kazue still soundly napping between the two.

"Nice shot," Casra breathes the words out, smiling wryly. Kazue stirs from his words, and as Zeno looks at them, he smiles at Casra's hesitant, but gentle, hair ruffle. There's a difference between how he treats her and how Zeno does – Casra is exceptionally gentle. The touch wakes her, and she grumbles her way off Zeno and towards the center of the clearing to stretch as Zeno had not-so-subtly reminded her to do earlier. Casra settles into her place, pulling screens back up so he could finish his work and go back to tormenting their shared minion. Kazue stretches out further, giving a little noise that Zeno has to glance at her for, before realizing she'd just stretched a little too far. It doesn't take her long to correct her mistake, and she resumes her task once more, intent on finishing before Casra. Zeno's head tilts to the side, and he only belatedly realizes his skills are still in high gear, allowing him to predict her next movements with the same graceful ease he had the Agnis. He watches curiously, amused intrigue in his movements as he observes her, content to track as she went through the motions, the faint echo of her future actions dissipating when her body occupied the space it had been in. He hasn't used the skill on a person in a while, and he lets himself relax, picking apart each possible future curiously, dissecting his student's moves as she made them. Part of him wonders if that monster that had chased his student did the same thing – studying movements and using skills to give it an edge. That thought makes him grit his teeth. He feels the warm body leaning against him shift, and he glances up to look at Casra, who is shrewdly eyeing him, a sly smile on his lips.

"You make quite a bit of use out of those skills." His tone is approving, and Zeno fights his blush at the compliment. "Is that a carry-over from the time you spent as a Hunter?" The curiosity is genuine, and Zeno debates answering before deciding there's no harm in sating the other's thirst for knowledge

"I suppose you could say so," he agrees. "I'd already started doing this as a Ranger – Sensei taught me the trick of min-max techniques." Casra's expression is bemused at the unfamiliar term, and he chuckles, continuing. "Min-max is the art of minimizing techniques or skills that aren't useful and extending the abilities of others by learning all the pros and cons of a technique through near-exclusive use of them for a certain duration of time." Zeno explains lightly, skimming over Casra's figure before returning his gaze to Kazue. "I'm pretty sure you're aware my signature move happens to be Stun Concido – this is part of the reason why." He chuckles slightly. "I'm not going to lie, I thought Sensei was pulling my leg when she told me how useful the art was until I learned how to run the mileage of it." Casra chuckles softly, before putting his own two Meseta in.

"So you could say it's much like specializing in an Element the way Techers and Force do." He says the words thoughtfully, and Zeno grins, pleased to hear such an accurate comparison. "Mmm. And can you do this with _any_ Photon Art and Technique?" He's considering something, and Zeno answers, clicking the safety back on and crossing his arms as he leans on them and continues speaking. Kazue has since finished, but she's listening raptly to him as well, and it pleases him to see her back to her usual attentive self.

"You can do it with basically any skill, Technique, and Photon Art out there. Even the more basic skills like dodging can have this effect applied with diligent practice. I worked with Kazue on elemental dodging using much of the same principles of min-maxing," he shrugs slightly. "Though she never stuck to one element since she didn't have an idea of which one was her best match. I know _personally_ Zonde and Megid align best with me – but I also use them a _lot_ with Stun Concido, so it could simply be familiarity." He flicks his gaze over to Kazue, and the girl blushes a little.

"So I should have stuck to an element?" She's sheepish, but it's adorable on her, and Casra chuckles slightly, but allows Zeno to finish the explanation.

"It's not necessary, but I really would recommend it. The greater your familiarity with a single element, the more powerful your techniques will be as you gain a sense of comfort with them. Though I'm not saying stick to only one," Zeno hastens to add when she still looks skeptical. "Casra might be a better judge, but usually two complementary elements work best until you master one, and then you can kind of expand to three primary elements." Zeno himself used two elements when he absolutely had to, but he held the best connection with Megid for reasons he didn't quite understand.

"He's right." Casra agrees easily, leaning over. "I specialize primarily in Zan and Barta, though my predecessor was more of a Barta and Grants specialist, from what I remember." He gives a rueful little chuckle, lips curling into a bitter smile. "More than one person expected me to follow in his footsteps." Kazue peers up at him, before awkwardly patting his knee. Casra flashes a smile in her direction, warmer than the one he'd given them both earlier. Kazue beams happily back, glad to have reassured the reserved third. "That being said to you, finding an elemental preference for someone like you is literally just picking one you like." Zeno, disagrees with that, speaking up before Kazue can.

"Go for Barta," he says, before being graced by two equally surprised glances. Casra raises a brow at him in silent challenge, and Kazue peers at him in confusion. His lips curl slightly upwards at their unspoken curiosity. "Barta solves a lot of your problems – you're a flexible combatant, but you lack the conviction and strength to hold your ground. Barta requires that kind of mindset and it'll be useful to you in the long term." Kazue looks intrigued, and Casra tilts his head, obviously asking for a deeper explanation. "Really?" He makes an amused noise when he realizes they're both looking at him for an explanation. "Alright, alright, _fine_ ," he chuckles and blows out a breath. God – when was the last time he'd done a genuine explanation?

"Since the Photoners fucked up and lost the ability for all of us to use Diga, Barta is the sole element that generates a physical, tangible presence. It's in essence the reverse of Foie – rather than shaking up molecules, it slows them down, crystalizing the air around it as it draws energy _away_ from the molecules. Foie adds extra energy to excite them and burns more energy as a result. Funny enough, Barta burns more photons per use than you'll ever find in any of the other elements aside from Megid." Zeno taps a finger against his lips. "People who use Barta more often are going to be reserved, objective, and less hot-tempered than those who don't. It's second only to Zonde in creating a clear mindspace for quick thinking and rational decisions since it speeds up your mind's response time. They've all got their specialties, but Barta'll do you a world of good if you can master some of the subtler qualities." He stops suddenly, aware of their eyes trained on him. His cheeks begin to flush slightly, and Casra's expression is distinctly annoyed.

"I'm going to hit whoever decided to stop training you," Casra says at long last, and Zeno's face blooms with blush, embarrassment deepening when Kazue nods eagerly in agreement. "All the same," Casra mercifully adds in an aside to Kazue, "he's right. Barta is the only physically manifesting element left. It provides a clear mind, strong convictions, and excellent self-discipline as well. Whatever element you choose as a second will complement your base choice. It's not something to be undertaken lightly, however. You can start mastering Barta, but don't train in another element until you've figured out what you want that other element to be. Do some serious research about how they'll interact. Both Zan and Barta came to me naturally – I didn't have a choice, and I know KlarisKrays only uses Foie and hasn't looked outside of her element. If I recall, you're friends with Marlu, and that young woman runs the Force and Techer Client Order Training. Ask her about it – she would be a wealth of information for this." Kazue nods eagerly, obviously intent on doing exactly that. Casra is staring at him in deep contemplation when he finishes, head tilting to a side as he seems to dissect Zeno as an interesting experiment. Zeno has to fight the unease he feels when Casra's gaze seems to sharpen with what feels uncomfortably like interest. He knew that Casra was interested in him as it was, but he wasn't exactly hiding that he was different to public perception, now was he?

"That aside," Zeno continues from where Casra left off, a smile on his face for his student, "shouldn't you be looking into subclasses?" The comical way her expression falls makes him grin at his little minion. Casra muffles a chuckle of his own, and she scowls at them both.

"I still haven't found one yet," she grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. Casra gives them both a considering look and smiles in amusement.

"You might as well start with Ranger," Casra points out with another chuckle at her expense. "Both Zeno and I subclass Ranger, and it's not a bad class when combined with a Force or Techer if you know how to maximize the range boost it gives you." Zeno raises an eyebrow in silent challenge, and Casra smiles. "I can't let you outclass me in theory," Casra teases, and Zeno rolls his eyes, an amused smile curling over his lips as Casra takes over this one. "Zeno will correct me if I'm wrong, but a proper sniper-skill Ranger concentrates photons together to ensure their shots can hit long distance, and proper application of such skills ignore gravity, the curvature of the earth, and inertia, depending on the bullet, element, and type. A Ranger who makes use of these skills is also better at reading people and their body language, are far more perceptive, and are capable of distancing themselves from their emotions to get a job done." While Casra speaks, Zeno idly checks boxes before pointing at Casra and grinning. Kazue giggles slightly at his teasing, while the other adult rolls his eyes, though there is a more genuine smile on his lips at the good-natured action. "Yes _Zeeeeno_ ," Casra sighs in exasperation. "I picked Ranger for those reasons. Fighter holds some of these qualities, but their specialty is close combat and I'm… not exactly durable." Zeno eyes Kazue and agrees with that assessment.

"So… is that a no to Fighter?" Kazue is hesitant, but still at least receptive to their comments. Zeno answers her, gets a grateful glance from Casra in return as something captures his attention.

"It just means your speed will need to pick up. Casra can phase out of contact, but even with your improved speed, you're still frailer than he is, so close combat will be _hugely_ risky. Until you pick up a couple of skills that'll allow you to heal on the go and pack a more explosive punch, you're better off sticking to ranged combat. Megiverse, despite being a darkness-based technique, is technically a null element – you should be able to use that without risking your Barta mastery _if_ you are thinking about having a Fighter subclass. But all those things aside… Yes. Try for Ranger and if you don't feel it mixes well, then we can switch it out to Fighter. I have enough experience in both classes, and so does Casra." The man looks a little startled to be included in the conversation so suddenly, but he nods and smiles all the same once he processes the conversation that had happened around him. "Something wrong?" Zeno asks, watching Casra go back to his screen. The man is scowling, and with a sigh, removes himself from their little huddle.

"A setback occurred in locating an experiment gone awry." His expression is twisted with annoyance, and he dusts himself off with a clever use of Zan. "It's wrecked some labs I oversee and I have to go fix the damage. I'll have to cut this short, I'm afraid. Kazue – your basics are exceptional, but we'll have to work on adding greater power output to your techniques and skills. Zeno's put a large emphasis on evasion and defense, but now we'll need to shore up your offensive skillset – with all the scrapes and troubles you get into, I'm surprised you haven't started on it." She's sheepishly embarrassed, and Zeno gives her an amused – and somewhat chiding – look.

"We'll work on it. I have a few exercises I can put her through without straining myself." Zeno assures Casra, who pauses in the middle of Zeno's words. "Concentration exercises and whatnot – I've got Echo's old notes on the subject, and she has a lot of them in there." Casra's gaze narrows before he nods.

"Alright. Kazue, don't let him do anything stupid." He says dryly, and Zeno gives an affronted glare at Casra. She chokes on her laugh, promising to do exactly that.

"You're terrible," she gasps around her laughter, and with a smile, Casra is gone.


	19. Coalescence of Skills

Light duty is fucking _terrible_. He doesn't want to tell anyone about his sudden change of heart back to Ranger until he's good and ready to, so he can't take the light sniping jobs without giving it away. Thankfully, Casra is happy to take the jobs for him, the man taking the chance to do his work uninterrupted while Zeno happily murders everything in range.

"Thanks for this," Zeno tells him again, and Casra's lips quirk up slightly in response.

"And again, you're _welcome_. I'm not a bad sniper, but I do need the time to work on my information processing. So, you're really doing me a favor." He flashes Zeno a proper smile from behind the screen, and Zeno grins back at him. "Also, I _do_ need your opinion on some things regarding Kazue's education. I'm sure you are doing your own teaching and I'd hate to impose on any subjects you would prefer to claim for yourself." Zeno looks away from his scope to blink at his thoughtfulness, before a smile blooms over his lips.

"Aren't you thoughtful?" Zeno's teasing, but he sees Casra duck his head, smiling shyly. "I'll call dibs on teaching her how to read people. It's a lesson that's _long_ since been overdue." Zeno wrinkles his nose a little, and Casra's expression is duly amused.

"I was wondering about that," Casra muses thoughtfully. "She's adept enough but considering that you've been teaching her for a nearly a month and a half now, Kazue did seem relatively… Hmm." Casra's expression is politely neutral, but he's obviously wincing as he tries to explain his thoughts. "Inexperienced… In the matters of subterfuge. Given how much you seem to use it in your day to day life, I'm surprised she hasn't picked up on it already." Zeno tries not to bristle, swallows the snippy retort he wants to make when he knows Casra is trying to be circumspect and polite about his concerns.

"It's easy to be honest with her." Zeno says instead, and Casra gives a soft huff of agreeing amusement.

"It _is_ , isn't it? Something she must have learned from you, I suppose." Casra's voice is sly, and Zeno's cheeks flush slightly as he peers through his scope. "You're good at getting others to open up, and it seems to be a trait you passed on to her." Zeno snorts slightly, amused despite the response.

"Another thing I learned from Sensei, actually. She was the one who taught me how to be attentive and friendly. A lot of her teachings are things that she learned from her own mentor, but she always seemed to be… sad? She lost a lot of people in her life, and she worked hard to protect herself from that kind of pain. She never actually wanted to teach me, but she did anyways. I still don't know why she changed her mind." Zeno muses quietly aloud. "You'd have liked her, I think." Casra hums curiously, leaning over and dismissing his screen.

"Oh really?" Casra joins him in observing the crisp landscape, sharing space with him easily. Zeno shuffles over so that the best vantage point can be shared, and Casra gives an appreciative bump of his shoulder in response. They settle together and look over the landscape. "You've said a little about her, but I honestly don't know much outside of what you've said. Tell me?" The interest is genuine, and after a moment, Zeno props his head up in his hands, musing quietly on how to properly explain _the_ Sensei he remembered.

Echo had never shown interest, always annoyed with him for running off to meet Sensei, but having never met the woman, Zeno couldn't really explain the depth of _awe_ she had inspired to his snippy friend. Trying to explain that is like trying to quantify lightning in his grasp. Sure, he could after the fact, but it had taken him _time_ to figure out how. But someone is asking him to try, so he will. Her memory deserved to be remembered.

"Sensei had seen a lot of shit," Zeno decides on first, after he'd checked to see that nothing was heading their way. "You could see it in the way she walked – always ready for an ambush, always _watching_ everything around her. She was fluid and incredible like that, twisting around attacks and words and weaving through life as though she knew everything that would happen and at the same time never knew what was in store for her." Zeno knew Sensei's words. The first thing she'd said to him back then was burned in his memory.

" _Get back. You're not ready for a fight like this yet._ " At the time the words had stung but watching her take the Darkers out had been something else, something… amazing.

"I wanted to be just like her. She fought with a weapon like I've never seen – an unclassed weapon at the time. She never explained anything about herself, just kind of smiled and patted my head – a little like I do to my minion." Not that Sensei had ever called him a minion. She'd always been wistfully fond of him in an almost affectionate way. "She never thought about teaching the easy way. It was always to extremes or nothing. If I wanted to learn how to fight, she'd chase me around with her weapons and attack until I passed out. Sometimes she'd hang me by my ankles – and wasn't that fun – and scare the shit out of me until I figured out how to escape. Every lesson was life or death with her, because she told me one day there would be a fight I couldn't win, and that there was nothing I could do to stop it."

"Cheerful woman," Casra remarks, and Zeno barks a laugh, tone bittersweet.

"You'd think she wasn't, but she was surprisingly upbeat outside of lessons. In our downtime she was the nicest woman in the whole damn world. Brought me food, always had some nice advice to give, would dole out hugs like they were candy. But the moment she started teaching me, she turned into the beast from hell. She did that every time. She was always fierce, never wanted me to slack in my training. She'd probably be so disappointed in me if she saw what I'd done, switching classes. She was a class neutral like Kazue, but she'd found a weapon and stuck to it like glue after she'd realized what a good match it was." Casra is silent during his explanation, and he keeps going. "I wanted to go with her, _so_ badly, but the pain in her eyes when she refused… When she _looked_ at me… I didn't have the heart to ask again." Casra looks curiously over him, a not so subtle request for more information, and Zeno's lips quirk up slightly.

"You know that I was a star student. Classes bored me, I could _teach_ half of my Ranger classes in my sleep. I'd already started getting bullied by those in the year above me. I couldn't do anything – I couldn't advance in my classes any further since they wanted me to be a study aide instead, but I was _sick_ of it. I'd started skipping classes to sate my boredom. Anywhere would have been better than that place, and Sensei… She would have been the greatest person to travel with – she never was impatient or upset, just understanding." The words are treacherous, but now that he can say them, it feels like nothing will stop them. Casra offers no interruption, laying a hand gently against his shoulder, leaning into him and encouraging him to speak. "She used to talk a lot to me rather than _at_ me, and never treated me like an idiot the way some people did back then. I was young, but I wasn't _entirely_ stupid." Zeno gives a hollow chuckle at that. "I would have done anything she asked as long as she made it clear what she wanted." There's a bittersweet note in his choice of words. "She didn't let me go with her, and I've always wondered what would have changed if I had."

"Perhaps nothing would have," Casra says quietly. "She may have simply gone on more missions with you by her side, mentored you when she was able. Maybe you would have been considered traitors to ARKs and been on the run. We can't say for sure. But between the two of us? I'm glad you stayed. Things are… better, this way. I doubt Kazue would be alive if you weren't here to save her." Zeno pauses at that, and he can't help but acknowledge the truth of Casra's words.

"That's true…" he murmurs, a little abashed that he'd forgotten his favorite minion. Casra smiles knowingly and bumps his shoulder in return, expression fond.

" _Personally_ , It's nice to have someone who can challenge me on a purely intellectual level," Casra admits after a moment. "And I enjoy your company as much as your student does."

"Minion," Zeno corrects without a thought, and Casra's lips twitch again in another amused smile.

"Minion, then," he concedes delicately, continuing in his quiet spiel. "I don't think I need to remind you that Echo wouldn't be here if you hadn't… Well." Casra gestures at his scar with a hand, and Zeno recalls the moment with sheepish silence. Echo had begged him to let her heal the wound, so it wouldn't scar, but he hadn't – for some reason he couldn't recall, he'd been unable to agree to such a thing. Misplaced anger? Perhaps a sense of penance? He doesn't remember now. His fingers reach up, instinctively trace the injury in an old, long-forgotten habit that he'd dropped when he'd seen how guilty it had made Echo.

"You're right…" Zeno sighs slightly, feeling inexplicably guilty. Casra's fingers alight on his shoulder, and he blinks up at his – friend? Companion? What _were_ they now? – in surprise. Casra's smiling at him, a faint and quiet thing, and Zeno lifts an arm up to let it cross over his back, pulling him into a sort of hug. Casra freezes at that, before melting into the contact, content for the moment. "Thank you." He says, and Casra hums slightly, a faint smile on his lips.

" _You're welcome_ , again," he teases slightly. They stay in companionable silence for several moments, and Zeno feels his mind settle. Ther was something about this that was inherently relaxing, and he lays his head down, allowing a soft breath of air to leave his lungs as they watch the landscape together. They're undisturbed for a while, but eventually, Kazue finds them there, sharing space and time with each other. She doesn't say anything at first, before she smiles and makes herself at home, squeezing in between the empty space left by them both when they realize what she's doing.

"Hey there minion." Zeno's smile grows fond, and she beams up at him with obvious pleasure at the sight of him and Casra. For once, she's in too good of a mood to whine about the nickname, flopping down and relaxing against his side, a happy little sigh leaving her. "Good day?" He asks, and she beams, unspoken pleasure visible on her face.

"A lot better than I thought!" She confirms with a grin, and Casra nudges her. "I spent most of today helping out Aki from the Research Division," she elaborates, and Casra raises an eyebrow, the expression on his face anything but amused. If anything, Zeno would have called that look… worried. She continues, though not without a concerned glance Casra's way. "We've been trying to help the Dragonkin out with their corruption issue – so far I've managed to help out the head of the Hi Clan – which seems to have given me some goodwill from them," she adds thoughtfully as she lays flat on her back to better see them both, the two men still propped up on their elbows. Casra hums, but it's deeply troubled, and they're both looking at him in curious concern when he finally speaks his mind.

"This Aki… she's trustworthy?" Kazue frowns at the comment. Casra rarely spoke of approval or disapproval, so the dubiousness of his tone worries Zeno.

"I trust her – she's… overzealous in regard to getting her work done, but I've never had any experiences that are negative with her as a person." Casra's expression doesn't change, and when he speaks, it's with a heavy undertone of worry.

"I pray you're right, but please, do watch what you say to her. She's part of my department, and while she may have changed in recent years, a lot of her work has bordered on unethical. She was a fan of your mother's work, if that means anything." Kazue blanches at the not so subtle hint of a _threat_ , though it's obvious Casra didn't mean to worry her as much as he did.

"Oh." She's a bit faint-sounding, and Zeno uses his left hand to cup the back of her head, thumb rubbing over her skull in reassurance. Casra gives an apologetic smile, tucks a strand of her hair behind an ear. "I-I'll be careful." She sounds ready to faint, and Casra's expression is deeply rueful. She rests a hand against his shoulder, and the silence is just shy of awkward. Zeno ruffles her hair a little, before sitting up straight and stretching out. Casra doesn't move for a moment, his expression gentle as Kazue gets herself back under control, manages to smile at him, though she still is rather nervous.

"I'm sorry," Casra says quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you." She shakes her head, and Zeno spots two dots of black in her thick hair. _Her horns_. Casra's gaze flicks up as well, and he knows that Casra's seen it, though the man says nothing as he joins Zeno in sitting up, helping Kazue to sit daintily across from them.

"Forewarned is forearmed," She says mildly, trying to find a bright spot in the darkness, and Zeno can see her trying to reassure him, a small hand on his own from where it lay on the ground. "Thank you. I know you're trying to keep me safe." Her smile is warm, and she looks between them. "I actually came to say I finished up my other obligations – outside of visiting Matoi, I should be more than able to take your lessons with all the effort I can spare towards them." She sounds so earnest, and Zeno isn't the only one who cheers up at her pronouncement.

"I was wondering if you'd ever stop," Zeno teases, reaching out to ruffle her hair, feeling the tiny horns on her head as he passes his fingers over them. "You came at a good time. We're divvying up who teaches you what anyways." Her expression turns distinctly odd, and Zeno wonders at it.

"You're not teaching me?" She sounds disappointed, and Zeno has to chuckle softly when he realizes her concern.

"Of course I am minion," he laughs a little when she relaxes at his words. "But until I'm off of light duty, there's only so much I _can_ do. I want to teach you some critical skills – get you a subclass that works for what you're doing –"

"Fighter." She doesn't even let him finish, a steady conviction in her tone that makes him pause and stare at her. "I know I'm frail, but if I do it right…" She shuffles a little in place, and Casra finds his voice first, rubbing a finger against his nose to hide the grin on his face.

"High risk and reward, is that it?" He's half-laughing, amused despite himself. "You want to make use of all those lessons you spent dodging, isn't that right?" Zeno snorts when she nods sheepishly. "It's not a bad build, and Ice is a good starting element. Freezing your enemies in their tracks will give you a boost in combat, and a proper breather if you've done elemental dodging." Casra's expression turns thoughtful, and Zeno elbows him.

"Oi. I'm the one in charge of teaching the minion theory." Zeno grumbles, and Kazue smiles, Casra's warning forgotten for the moment. Casra gives him an amused look, before raising his hands up in surrender.

"Oh alright, _fine_ ," Casra gives a dramatic sigh. "But that means I get to smash her flat into the dirt until you get better." Kazue, who had cheered up briefly, pales rapidly at his not entirely teasing tone.

"Can I change my mind?" She squeaks, and Casra's grin turns positively _wicked_.


	20. Building Blocks

It doesn't take long for Zeno to set up a miniature sort of headquarters in his apartment. He has to dip a little into his savings, but thankfully, it doesn't take long to update his old setup into something a little faster and better than his first one, back when he'd still been in the academy. Back when he'd been a sniper, he'd had a full data setup ready to go in case he got a job that required research. But in the last couple of years it'd fallen behind on his priority list – after all, Hunters didn't do much research and he hadn't been able to justify the expense. Now that he had Kazue to teach however, this would be ideal. She'd probably want a similar setup for herself since she was still working as a class tester. His eyes flick at movement in his mirror, and he smiles.

"You're early," Zeno says without looking away, sorting a few skills to the _possible_ tab.

"… You apparently have eyes in the back of your head," Kazue grumbles in return, taking an admiring look at the screens as they flicker between subjects. Zeno graces his student with an amused smile as he turns around, ruffles the thick mop of hair affectionately.

"There's a mirror over there," Zeno points out, and she glowers at it. "That and you're wearing those clunky boots of yours," he adds helpfully, which makes her scowl deeper. "Don't worry – we can work on stealth together," he says fondly, and that makes her brighten as she takes a seat next to him. "We'll hash out our schedule while we're here, but I wanted to show you something first." She leans against him, and he easily wraps his arm around her waist, lazily encircling her body. She melts into his grasp, eagerly devouring the sight before her. "This is my old setup. It's still in need of an update – see there? That's going to be a real-time mission request station. I had one a while ago, but they updated the security on it, so I need to get one of their bypass cords to get back into the system."

"Why not ask Casra for one? He probably has plenty," Kazue suggests curiously, and Zeno pauses. She wasn't _wrong_ in that he could probably get the access cables, but Casra _would_ ask about it. While they had some… similarities, Zeno was loathe to give away such secrets, even if he was slowly coming around to Casra being part of his confidence in a more personal sense rather than a professional one. Her trust in Casra was… interesting, so he indulges her, if only to keep her happy for the moment.

"Maybe. It's an old and well-kept secret of mine, so I'm kind of annoyed to give it out to anyone other than my loyal minion." He's teasing her gently, and she turns pink with pleasure at the implied trust, even though she gently smacks his arm. "We'll see if he behaves himself. Until then, I'm going to keep it secret, okay?" Kazue nods eagerly, and he can tell she's happy to be part of a light-hearted little secret. But now he has to actually spend time to figure out if he _trusts_ Casra enough to give him access to what he'd made for himself. And while he's at it…

"Why do you trust Casra so much?" It's an honest question, and Kazue pauses in her curious study of his computer setup, green eyes blinking at him in confusion. It takes her a very long moment before she answers, visibly mulling over his question and in deep thought even as she speaks.

"He's similar to us, isn't he?" That's not the answer he'd expected, and he gives her a single blink in return, mirroring her action to him. "I hear it everywhere. Any time people see me talking to Casra, they say he's nice, but he's close to Luther, he must be up to no good." He's heard that too, and with a start, he realizes how much it colors his own perception. The sniper in him is _outraged_ by the blatant interference of his intelligence-gathering integrity, but he doesn't let it show on his face, nodding along to her words. "And you did it too, but you weren't all about his association to someone else. You were concerned about _him_ as a person, not because of his association to another person." She seems to be grasping at straws to explain herself, to explain something she'd probably never had to put into words before, and he listens, quiet. "But he's not mean. He doesn't ask me a lot of questions – he lets me talk to him, he listens to me instead of simply nodding his head and pretending he's interested. Everyone already knows who he is, and because of it they think they know what he's going to do. They're afraid of him for being associated with the head scientist, and he doesn't stop them. He's _okay_ with being treated as a bad guy – or maybe he's just resigned to it, I don't know." She looks up at him pleadingly. "I don't like that. He's trustworthy, and maybe he's affiliated with Luther, but he's not a bad person. Just an unlucky one." Zeno says nothing when she's done, and he ruffles her hair.

"And like us?" He knows his own parallels with Casra, but he wants to hear it out of her mouth anyways.

"Prodigy at something, for starters. Ranger for you, Force and Techer class respectively for myself and him. He was either bullied at some point in his life or he feels helpless about something that happened in the past and he probably gets reminded about it a lot. He's really careful with what he says even if he never lies to anyone." She ticks off the points on her fingers, head tilting to a side as she considers. "His every action is watched by people who think they know who he is. I'm watched a lot, people expect lots of things out of me because I'm your student, because I'm older than the average ARKs graduate, and that I've gone and convinced you to teach me." She looks a little frustrated, and Zeno ruffles her hair, gets a faint smile from him. "People want you to be the next Council of Six member, or they want you to be… y'know, _more_. They all have opinions on what you should be doing with your life and they always stop me and say that it's a shame you stopped being a Ranger, or that you didn't go on to create your own class, or a dozen other stupid things that they insist on telling me!" Her lower lip wobbles, and Zeno blinks down at her, concerned as to the sudden bout of temper. "I _hate_ that they think they own the right to your image, or to Casra's or mine!" She's a little out of breath, and Zeno wraps her in a hug, careful to be gentle with his touch. "Everyone wants us – all of us – to fit their designs. Even –" she cuts herself off, burying her head in his shoulder. Zeno lets her, realizing that she needs it more than he'd anticipated.

"I'm sorry baby girl." He drops his usual nickname in favor of a gentler one, scooping her into his lap so she can settle herself into the hug he gives her, a tight squeeze around her midsection. She buries her head in his shoulder, shoulders quivering as she hiccups, suddenly overwhelmed by… something. He can't pinpoint this sudden change, and he wonders if she's simply been pushing down her feelings. He gently ruffles her hair once more, waits out the sudden bout of tears, humming gently until he feels her relaxing against his body, her body untensing and breath becoming even.

"I cried on you." She sounds horrified with herself, and Zeno pokes her on the nose, a faint scowl on his features.

"Never mind that," he says sharply, expression less than amused. "How long have you been stressing out about this baby girl?" The term of endearment is different to his usual, and she's rubbing her eyes, looking up at him in confusion. "What's going on?" She sniffles slightly again, rubbing her eyes once more as she stares up at him in a mixture of embarrassment and shame. "Hey hey hey," he cups her chin in his hand as she tries to look away in her embarrassment, forcing her to face him instead of hiding away in her shell of self-contained awkwardness. "Look at me baby girl," he scolds her gently, and she does, eyes watery. "Now, I'm only going to ask this one more time, and I expect an answer. What's going on?" He had a plan for their day that hadn't involved comforting his clearly upset student, but he wasn't going to begrudge her if she was struggling and needed something… or someone, it seemed, to comfort her.

Slowly, hesitantly, she does talk, and it's small and quiet. She starts with her adventures – or perhaps, misadventures – among the Dragonkin that had led her to Aki. How she'd met Casra again while doing her own work in Naberius, and the little discussions they held whenever they had crossed paths. Zeno files away those words – clearly Casra had been looking out for his student when he couldn't, but that wasn't the important part. Her aibou's own mysterious search between saving people, and the secrets he was keeping about it despite everything. The worst, however, was the growing regard and scrutiny that she had been receiving now that her accomplishments were spreading amongst the general population. Zeno winces when he hears parts of the conversations she'd overheard, ruefully recalling that he had lost touch with the gossip of ARKs for quite some time, and clearly without his own touch, the speculation of his future had long since gone to the Darkers. He kisses the top of her head when she pauses, her chest heaving up and down as she presses her face against his neck. A few tears escape, but these are of frustration and anger, not of her misery. He strokes her hair, lifting her within his grasp to carry her while he fetches a glass of water. He nudges her once the deed is done, and she is deposited onto the counter, water pressed into her hands as she continues. But he still wonders. Someone wanted Kazue to fit to their designs, it was what had started this whole tale in the first place.

 _Even –_ He's not sure he has the right quite yet to ask who this other person is that holds a plan for Kazue.

It isn't until she gets to Rogio that he stops her with an upraised hand.

"I'm sorry, I must have misheard you." Zeno's tone is quietly even, but his eyes are narrowed at her. "Rogio's gone _what_?" Kazue relaxes when she realizes he's not angry at her, having scrunched up into herself when his words had become suddenly scathing. She unturtles herself from her curled up position, relaxing at him and taking a small sip.

"Missing. I've been looking for him during my downtime, but I haven't told anyone about it. The rumor is that someone tried to assassinate him, but he was tipped off before the attack." Zeno has his suspicions as to who that might be, but it would do no good to say them out loud, so he locks the idea behind his teeth, nods at her to go on. "I hope he's okay, really," she continues quietly. "I met him a few weeks ago after one of our first lessons, and he's always been a big help – he studies photons and how they react with Naberius, did you know?" He _had_ , and he nods along, wonders where this is going. "He found out about my job, and we got to comparing notes about Techniques and how they were affected by weather patterns on Naberius. He mentioned to me in passing once that Techniques can be amplified on Naberius based on the weather, but neither Amduscia nor Lillipa have that affinity." _That's_ something he hadn't heard before, and he perks up. Kazue smiles sheepishly at him and shakes her head at him. "I can show you later – I have the paperwork in my room under lock and key by my Partner Kali – she keeps my research under surveillance, so I don't lose it to other Class Testers – class payout bonuses are _huge_ if you're the first to discover something new." Zeno chuckles at that, makes a note to look into it at some point.

"I'll look forward to it," he promises with a smile. "What about the rest?" She shakes her head, before refocusing back into her words.

"Matoi's all that's left," she says sheepishly, and Zeno has a moment of incomprehension that she sees on his face. "The civilian girl that you helped me save," she clarifies, and he blinks. Oh. Her? "Matoi's really skittish – she doesn't remember anything according to Philia, but she gets twitchy around weapons, and I think she might have some bad memories about scientists – she nearly had a fit when Philia suggested going to the Research Department for a memory recall." Zeno raises an eyebrow, leaning against his counter as he watches her drain the glass of water before she hops off of the elevated platform. She sets the glass on the counter with a soft thanks.

"If she ended up on Naberius without any memories, I'd be surprised if she felt comfortable around weapons _or_ scientists. Who knows what happened to her before you met her." Kazue nods along to his words, curls up in the cozy chair she'd claimed for herself in previous visits to his apartment. He takes the couch, and after a moment, he dismisses the screens of his unfinished mission setup.

"Yeah… You're right," she agrees. "But… Matoi. She has this… image, in her head of me. She seems to think that I'm some implacable wall, some sort of stalwart guardian of hers, and I mean – she's nice, but I don't spend that much time with her, and it makes me nervous that she seems to think so highly of me. I… know she doesn't mean it, but I _hate_ it – how much she seems to think of me as some sort of almighty guardian." Ah. _Here_ was the reason she was so upset. He reaches out, and she meets him halfway, holding her hand within his own. He squeezes gently, and she smiles tremulously, accepts the wordless affection. "I'm afraid. What if I can't live up to her ideals? She's so sad, and I want to help her, but I'm afraid. What if I do something wrong?" Her eyes well with tears again, and Zeno leaves his seat, kneeling in front of her chair to wipe away her tears as they come. She stops crying again faster this time, and he keeps her face in his hands, refuses to let her hide away from him as she wants to.

"Isn't that why you're here? Learning with me?" He says gently, and her smile is small, but it's there and he can see the spark in her eyes ignite.

"Yeah… it is." She admits softly, and he grins.

"Then don't you worry minion," he teases, back to his old nickname the moment she was alright. "I've got just the lesson plan for you."


	21. Faithful

Stealth and Tracking, indoors combat, combat language and all subjects within that, history (man had Kazue insisted on that one), and interestingly enough… sniping. Zeno takes a drink of his coffee, watching the hustle and bustle of the main lobby as he waits patiently for the subject of recent thoughts to pass through on her regular route through this area. Today is another day on his own – Casra had been called away, and he'd smiled and waved the man off, promising that he'd behave himself and do nothing more stressful than take a walk around Ship One, maybe grab some coffee. He'd had to console Kazue that he wouldn't be causing trouble, and she'd eyed him suspiciously the whole time before giving him one of her rib-cracking hugs and leaving him to his own devices – and a fridge full of takeout in case he didn't want to cook.

So far, he's run into a few Class Trainers – Marlu had stopped by a few minutes ago to quietly hold a conversation with him about Kazue and her research – and Ohza, who he'd greeted amiably despite the man's less than thrilled response (He'd shown the man up _once_ and the guy still held a grudge, sheesh). Finally, his subject arrives, and he allows a faint smile to grace his features when the girl notices him. She shrinks in on herself initially, before timidly walking the scant distance out of her usual pattern.

"Hello Matoi." Zeno says kindly, the girl shrinking in on herself briefly before managing to offer him a thin, trembling smile. "Kazue said you were feeling better." She relaxes upon hearing Kazue's name, and her warmth grows.

"H-hello," she waves a little, hands clasped tightly together as she observes him, wide eyed and short of breath. He towers above her, and Zeno kneels so that he doesn't seem nearly so large. Her smile eases into relief, and he smiles back at her.

"You wanted to talk to me?" He prompts gently, and she nods slowly.

"Y-yes," she confirms nervously. "I wanted to thank you… Kazue is much happier when I see her…" She shuffles her feet, and Zeno gently tousles her hair, receiving a flinch before she accepts the touch, anxious eyes looking up at him.

"Thank you for telling me that," he says kindly. "I sometimes worry that I'm not helping her out enough," he chuckles ruefully, and Matoi's anxious gaze eases at his tone, a small smile on her face at his obvious candor. She's awkward and shy – a far cry from Kazue's open confidence in most things. He digs around in his pocket, offering the girl one of the many granola bars he carried with him. (Recently he'd been hungry at the oddest of times, and this was his solution for the problem for the moment.) She accepts the offer, smiling appreciatively as she opens the wrapper and takes a big bite out of it.

"Matoi? Matoi dear!" Philia stops dead at the sight of them both – her lips purse in a frown of disapproval, though whether it's at her choice of snack or her deviation from her usual routine. "There you are – I was starting to worry," Philia scolds kindly, resting a hand on Matoi's head. "Head on back now – we have one more test to do for today." Matoi wilts a little, but waves her goodbye, mouth occupied with food. Philia and Zeno watch her leave, and she turns her gaze on him, her face graced with a look of… distrust?

"What are you doing here?" She asks, and it's the unfriendliest he's ever heard the woman. Zeno blinks at her incredulously.

"I came to see Matoi. Kazue mentioned that she was well enough to have visitors." Kazue's name softens the woman, but she doesn't seem to trust him at all, which is a far cry from previous interactions.

"Oh? And that's all you're here for?" She says archly. "Casra may have fooled the rest of the ARKs, but I know he has an interest in her. Just the other day Luther came by trying to gain access to her." Zeno blinks, before his mouth drops open, too stunned to be insulted at first.

"I… _Excuse me?_ " He says, anger glowing over his features as he registers her words. "You _honestly_ think I'm here for Casra?" He straightens, and Philia takes a step back, suddenly worried. Zeno dimly realizes that there are people staring at him, but there's a bone deep fury raging in his soul at the implications that he would _dare_ spy on a healing civilian. "After all of the things I've done, how I've worked with you, you honestly _believe_ I would ever put one of yours in danger? Because Casra asked me to work with him on locating a possible Falz, I'm somehow suddenly less _trustworthy?_ " She cringes immediately at how it sounds. "I can't believe you." He says the words quietly, watches her flinch. "Fine. Have it your way," he dusts his hands off. "I won't approach Matoi again."

He's not going to debase himself by screaming at her. He manages to make it well away, ignoring her cry for him to wait, instead disappearing through to the shopping area. He stalks his way past an odd-looking woman with her hair up in a severe bun before he pauses. Turning back, he sees nothing there in the space she had occupied. His anger is spent, confused curiosity creeping in to take its place. He takes a moment to observe the area, but once he determines there's nothing there, he wonders why he thought he'd seen something. He shrugs a little to himself, but finds that the distraction, temporary as it had been, had dissipated much of his temper and left him a little lost and confused.

"Zeno!" Casra's voice jolts him back to reality, and he turns to face him, a crooked smile curling over his lips at the sight of his temporary 'boss'. "There you are," he smiles at the younger man fondly. "I was just finished with my meeting. Are you alright?" The question brings back the uncomfortable memory, and his expression sours at the comment.

"No." He says shortly, expression twisting. "But it's not important," Zeno shakes his head, though Casra's own look is arch, as though he doesn't believe him. "Really, it isn't." He insists, and Casra rolls his eyes at him.

"The last time I saw you like this you'd just run into Gettemholt." Zeno winces at the accurate comparison and tries a different angle.

"I don't want to talk about it." He says instead, and Casra hums, hand resting on his shoulder as he looks the man over. Whatever inspection he's given is passed, and Zeno gets a gentle nod and squeeze.

"Alright then. Let me know when you do." Casra smiles at him, nudging him towards the barracks. "I actually wanted to ask a few questions – I _have_ to know." The teasing tone makes Zeno's lips tug up into a smirk, shoulders easing as the pair walk side by side down towards the city. "Why in Pantheon's name are you still living in the barracks? I've seen you work – the money you get for missions is higher than any other field ARKs save for the Council." Zeno grins sheepishly, tries not to hide behind his sudden worry at Casra's words.

"Why? You looking to kick me out of barracks?" He's teasing, but Casra rolls his eyes.

"Not a chance in Oracle," Casra says in return. "A better apartment means more resources, right? If you want to teach that student of yours, what better than to get a better place, so you can teach her more without people eavesdropping?" His hackles raise, and Casra's gaze slides over to him, a subtle shake of his head telling him to go with it. "You know how the paranoid types work. Maria, Regius… they drag their poor, unfortunate victims off to these elaborate apartments for theoretical training and nobody ever sees them again." Zeno chuckles at the joke, but the message is received well.

Barracks aren't safe for Kazue and him. Maybe even Casra – though considering he'd never even stepped foot on the same floor as Casra's assigned room, he supposes the man has his own privacy well in hand.

"Why don't you join me then?" He's only teasing in return, but Casra's considering gaze turns _wicked,_ and he blushes because he knows what those words out of his damnable mouth will be.

"Oh? Is that an invitation to stay with you?" Casra practically _purrs_ the words, and Zeno groans at the opening he'd made, half-laughing. "You're getting forward," Casra laughs, hand reaching up to ruffle his hair affectionately. Zeno ducks back, a little offended. That was what he did to _his_ minion dammit. "Sure, I'll join you, but I'm not cooking." He laughs again at Zeno's exaggerated groan of embarrassment, before he smiles warmly, looping his arm over the man's shoulders, the Newman speaking quietly into his ear. "I'd suggest moving out by next week – you've seen the techs crawling over the building in the last month or so, mm?" His words ghost softly past an ear, suggestive in the way only Casra can be, drawing both a flush and an embarrassed little glare towards him for it.

"I'd noticed." And he had, but lapsed practice had seen that his suspicion fell to the wayside, instead assuming innocently that the systems were merely being overhauled. The years of practice that he'd put in for the academy, the training that he'd undergone to be part of the Intelligence Division had faded over time – he'd become a Hunter in more ways than he'd wanted. His eyes narrow, and Casra chuckles.

"Don't assume anything is innocently done around here," he continues quietly as the two make it to the entryway. "But I've been putting in an application for a nice place – three rooms, plenty of space to share with the open-plan design. _Gorgeous_ view especially." The last one makes Zeno's eyes flicker to Casra, to gauge the man's reaction. He's smiling slyly, that little niggle of _knowing too much_ there and –

Oh. The desire of flight leaves him, when he considers the offer. A safe space – known quantities in a place he'd always felt safest. High ground, excellent view. Few corners to hide things in – _secrets_ , especially – and an offer rather than a demand.

Kazue had described them as being like one another. Zeno had called him a kindred spirit at least once. Clearly Casra felt the same, or he wouldn't have made such an offer. Casra wouldn't have made an offer this blatant if he didn't think he could trust Zeno to stay by his side without slipping a knife into it.

"Dunno. What kind of view?" He asks the question before the silence can stretch too long, before Casra can get impatient. (Take it as a rejection) Casra hums idly, taps his fingers against the keypad on the door to get it to open the stairwell. No instantaneous transport. The two flights of stairs weren't much, but there was significance in the offer.

"Killer," is the simple reply, and Zeno chuckles softly. They stop at his floor, and he's about to go into the hallway, pauses when he realizes that Casra had made no move to join him.

"Join me? I can't exactly figure out what apartment you want to share if we're sitting in the stairwell chatting like old biddies." Casra's whole body eases, a slow smile slipping over handsome features as the man catches the edge of the door to follow him.

Trust. Kazue had suggested it, the same night she'd hashed out her theoretical lesson plans with him. Little shows of faith, the same way Casra had opened up to him. Subtle spars, hand to hand that ended often with his hands near Casra's throat or in position to break the fragile man in half. Lessons for Kazue, the gift of a skilled Force's notes. Most tellingly, sharing missions and relying on him to keep his pristine record. He stops at his door, digging through his pockets for his key and hiding his face. Casra was skilled at manipulation. But this wasn't subtle enough to be his touch. Perhaps the spars were a start to a slower path, but he'd warmed quickly to Zeno in a manner not unlike how he'd first met Echo, filthy and starving on the street.

"Come in," he says, more to snap himself out of his own thoughts than anything. Casra's smile is faint, but relieved. He can just see past the glare of his glasses, and Zeno realizes yet again that Casra's eyes were _extremely_ expressive. It was little wonder that Casra hid his gaze behind so many barriers if he was normally so open.

Not for the first time, Zeno wonders why he was head of intelligence and what motivated him to be.

Casra's gaze is focused entirely on the mockup of the Mission Control Station, raising a brow in impressed intrigue.

"This is _nice_ ," Casra smiles awkwardly, though the curious little flicks of his gaze return to it multiple times. He indulges Casra's curiosity, smiling.

"It's an old setup I'm restoring," Zeno laughs, nudges Casra over to it. Given permission, Casra is immediately like a Trainee in a weapons shop, curiously poking at it and admiring it quietly. He doesn't _touch_ – no, nothing like that. But his fingers ghost over edges, wistful pleasure on his features. "It's out of date, if you can't tell." Casra gives an inelegant snort, before chuckling softly.

"Clever as the devil and twice as pretty - this isn't that far out of date," Casra murmurs, glancing his way before looking at the screens once more. "If you didn't have one running when you graduated, I'll eat my hat." Zeno's cheeks flush at the compliment. He didn't know what the hell to say, but the compliment does nice things to his ego. The astute observation does make him bristle slightly, and Casra flashes an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he chuckles slightly. "Force of habit." Zeno smiles at him, soothing away the sharpness of suspicion that prickles up his spine.

"I know," he reaches out to lightly touch his shoulder, expression warming as Casra leans into his touch. "You want some tea?" Casra glances over him after his thorough examination of the room, and he blinks curiously, removing his hat and glasses. He seems less burdened these days when he takes that action, and Zeno likes to think it's him and Kazue, chipping away at his insecurities.

"I thought you didn't like tea," Casra sounds amused by that, and Zeno pulls a face.

"It's hot leaf juice. I don't. But Kazue is my student, and you know how she gets without a cup." Miserable, moping, and _droopy_. Like a puppy without any feed. Zeno had made that mistake once and he'd refused to do it again. Casra chuckles softly, but he's touched – Zeno can see it in the way his fingers lightly trail over his shoulder.

"I'd love a cup, thank you." Zeno gives a nod, and gestures for him to take a seat at the tiny kitchen island, already preparing himself a cup of coffee while he roots through his cabinets for the white peach tea Kazue had stored. She'd shown him how to brew a proper cup, and while it still tasted like hot leaf juice to him, he'd kind of gotten the appeal.

Coffee was still vastly superior though.

Casra brightens when the cup is deposited before him, a plate over the rim to allow it to steep, a pleased hum leaving his throat as he fiddles with his fingers. Zeno pulls a metal tin out from one of the shelves and offers it to him.

"Here. Tea sweets. Kazue spends as much time in my apartment as I do, so she bought some for herself – but I don't think she'd mind." Long fingers curl around the box, and he curiously peers inside.

"Oooh, she bought the good stuff," Casra says in mingling delight and pleasure. He gingerly accepts one and puts it the top of the plate, allowing it to warm without heating it. "I _have_ to find out where she got them. I always have to go to an actual tea shop to find decent ones." Zeno huffs, glad for his simpler tastes in drink. Coffee was good with everything thank Pantheon. But the pleasure on Casra's face at something so silly and simple made him smile slightly, because it was so very _honest_. A common ground between his little rookie and the cool, calculating third. They don't talk until Casra finally removes the plate and puts it aside.

The soft glow of green makes Zeno's eyes raise, when Casra idly uses a Technique to remove the tea leaves from his drink.

"I thought limiters kept people from using Techniques," Zeno quips, and Casra smiles up at him sheepishly, having started slightly. The awkwardness, the way his fingers curl around the cup and tug a centimeter closer to his chest – he had forgotten where he was. Zeno wants that casual ease back, so he keeps talking. "Kazue's going to be so jealous – she always has to spit the leaves out." Casra is startled into a laugh, before he shakes his head and answers him.

"It's hard to cast with the limiters, but it can be done. It'll never be as strong as in the field, but it does the job I want it to. Something to consider," he says thoughtfully, falling into a familiar song and dance of instruction that Zeno lets him do, fond. They sit together, sipping at their respective cups, and finally, Casra nibbles on his snack, before pulling out his phone to tap against it.

"Here," he offers the phone, and Zeno sees the apartment that he'd mentioned, curiosity piqued. "While we're at it, I'd like to talk about Kazue…"


	22. Discussions

"You're moving?" Kazue seems surprised, but hardly upset. "Is it your injury?" She seems to immediately assume that something's wrong – though to be fair Zeno would be just as concerned too if she'd led their meeting with that. His temporary Mission Control station is at full strength after Casra's quick little tech-check and a wrangled promise to let Casra borrow it when they start sharing a space together. The promise of a _proper_ setup is tempting, as is Casra's promise to return with further intel.

"No," he smiles at her, ruffles that tempting little mop of fluffy hair. She leans into the touch, her own smile reappearing at the reassurance. "It's been made aware that this isn't the best place to teach you. I've got more room than most people, but that setup already takes a quarter of my available free space alone, and if I'm teaching you all about ARKs and all that theoretical shit, then I need to actually get my shit together and teach you properly." She blinks at him, doe eyed. Her endearing innocence makes him smile down at her fondly, and she beams shyly back, accepting his explanation. His sweet, naïve minion.

He was going to _hate_ himself for destroying the unflappable acceptance of her. His lips twist into another smile to hide the grimace that wanted to appear on his face. "But I want a little more space to teach you properly. Stealth and Tracking isn't an easy subject to teach here either. It'll be easier in a bigger place – somewhere you have to keep track of more variables, before I take you through it outside of the room." Kazue goes back to her tea, satisfied by his answer. "Speaking of, we're going to have a little change in plans." She looks up again, concerned. She lowers the snack she'd been about to bite into, and he chuckles. "No, no, go ahead and eat minion. It's just a bit of a scheduling shift." Satisfied, she returns to her snacking.

"Wha' is it?" She asks curiously, and Zeno raises a single eyebrow at her table manners. Kazue's cheeks flush slightly, spots of red on tan skin. She swallows, wipes her mouth, and repeats her question.

"I don't think I approve of you picking up Afin's dining habits," he says wryly, and she blushes deeper.

"Sorry," she whispers, mortified. He lets her stew in the embarrassment, before grinning benignly and waving his hand.

"Don't worry minion. I'll forgive you this time," he teases her, but her relief is a palpable, adorable little thing. "That being said… schedule changes. I can teach you history from anywhere, but there's a monument I'd like you to visit on this ship. We can start there, and I'll work my way through what I know about ARKs, and I'm sure Casra will chip in. Body language I'll teach in conjunction with Casra once I'm recovered, but I'll be more than up to the regular kind – language and syntax and connotations aside. Teach you how to use all those pretty words right," he chuckles hollowly, and Kazue's small hand – normally cold, but warm from the hot cup of tea – settles on his own. "Don't worry minion. I'll turn you into a juggernaut in no time." She smiles weakly at his reassurance, caught off guard by his sudden sober shift in mood.

"Thank you." They're quiet for a long moment, and Zeno tugs her closer, lacing her fingers between his own as he considers what to say. It's been a wild few days, with the ups and downs between himself and Casra and Kazue like a wildly spinning coin, at any minute ready to topple over and reveal the truth of their situation. "Zeno?" Her voice is small, and he snaps to attention immediately. "Do… you think… this Falz is really after me?" She's a little hunched in on herself, and he holds her hand tightly, feels her tremble. It takes him a moment to scoop her up, pull her into a gentle hug – not that his shoulder appreciates that fact, twinging at him angrily. But he'd caused this, forced her to pay attention to the very real danger that was chasing her.

"Better to keep you safe than to wish it wasn't true," he murmurs, burying his face into the soft fluff on top of her head. She curls her arms around him, shivers slightly. "I'm so sorry sweetheart," he drops the nickname for now, swapping it for something gentler.

Kinder.

They sit in silence for a few minutes and Kazue pulls herself together, trying to go for an unaffected look once she was done. She was still shaking, her body trembling from the force of her emotions and the unknown threat, but he didn't call her out on it – he didn't have that right to scare her any further. He smooths down her hair, runs his finger over the tiny horns and she shakes her head, shoulders quivering slightly. Sensitive? He puts his hands up, apologizing without words and she catches a hand, holds it.

"I hate being a target." Her voice is lower, more tired. She's slumped against his frame, and Zeno lets her hold his hand for lack of something to say. He curls her up into his arms again, ignores the slight twinge of his shoulder as he bundles her even closer. Kazue never really protests his actions, head burying itself into his neck as she takes the affection, clinging to him. Does nobody comfort her? The thought alone irks him – she's a popular figure now, an idol to the masses, and nobody had thought to check on how _she_ was doing? He glowers internally, rocking back and forth with her in his arms. He continues to pat down her hair, whispering reassuring nothings until she's curled up in his lap, content for the moment. He'd been sidetracked… again. But this was one distraction he was willing to take, if it meant his little student wouldn't cry at night thinking nobody gave a fucking damn about her. They stay quietly together, before Zeno hauls her up, carrying them both over to his couch. It's frighteningly easy how protective he's become of her in such a short time, and he curls her into his arms, kisses her temple. It's instinct and drive that pushes him to care for her, but he didn't coddle anyone the same way he did Kazue. Not Echo, not Huey or Casra or even KlarisKrays. Just his minion. There's something about her naturally fierce nature that makes him want to comfort her when it shatters.

"Then I turn you into a monster," he says fiercely, when he can't take the silence any longer. "And we turn your enemies into _your_ targets." She shivers a little against him, but when she looks up, her expression is resolute – her famous calm finally swooping in to ease her battered edges. She doesn't leave his side, but she slides out of his lap, thanks him with a squeeze of her hand. It takes a while before either of them are settled once more. She takes a deep breath.

"I… Thank you." She's soft-spoken again, no longer eager to speak. Zeno smiles sadly, leans over. The coin is still spinning wildly, but he can see it slowing down now, showing him the possible future ahead.

"You're welcome," Zeno says in return, reaching out to ruffle her hair. She accepts it, and he takes her hand and squeezes. "Now, as much as I love you minion, we have lessons to get to." She purses her lips, but nods firmly.

"I know – I got side-tracked." She sounds sheepish, but Zeno runs a hand over her hair again.

"It was important," he reminds her, refusing to let her downplay her hurt. "You being upset is _important_. Don't brush it off, or other people will assume your pain is lesser than theirs." He says the words frankly, and Kazue blinks, before nodding at his advice.

"I understand," she says softly, eyes darkening briefly as Zeno observes her. He's about to ask what sparked the sudden change when he realizes what it was likely to be. He claps his hands together, forces some false cheer into his voice.

"O-Kay, now, c'mon minion, time's a-wasting," He says cheerily, knows by her unamused glare that she's well aware of his act. "Wallowing won't get either of us anywhere but dead, so c'mon. Let's get crackin'." That raises a more genuine smile, her expression blooming into warmth as she settles with him. They sit together, and Zeno gestures with a hand, the screens of his sort-of Mission Counter flying over to their side at her awed gaze. He smiles as she abandons her intense study of him to ooh and ahh over what he'd just done, taking her mind off of the dark specter of a burden Zeno no longer carried. He offers her a smile, before leaning on his elbows. "So – I keep meaning to ask, but how are those notes of yours going? You told me they were very intuitive." Her smile brightens, and she eagerly pulls them out, more than happy to share what she had learned. She brandishes the thin paper notes and sets them on his living room table. She's an eager little puppy, imaginary tail wagging as she immediately shows off what she's gone and learned.

"They are!" She gestures over to her first stack, which is – much to his profound amusement – littered with brightly colored sticky notes. "These ones are the ones I've gone through with Casra so far during our Technique and Photon study time," she says happily, Zeno curiously observing the well-done notes in her tiny, cramped handwriting when he picks up a page. "They're _very_ complex," she admits with a little frown, before brightening up and continuing. "But the extra work is _absolutely_ worth it! There's a lot in there about Falz and possession of hosts too – whoever these belonged to had a very involved theory about the possibility of freeing Darker possessed hosts – though it was more postulation about the possibility of how Absolute Orders could be used on an ARKs, even if they were possessed." Zeno raises an eyebrow, curious.

"Oh _really_?" He drawls, wonders why his minion would be interested in such a thing.

"It's interesting – it's all about negative photon flow and positive, and how the use of it results in purification abilities like mine." She says in return, and Zeno smiles at her, fondly amused. "And _these_ -" she brandishes the notes like a particular weapon, and he stifles a laugh at her "– are all about genesis weapons – how they're spiritually connected to people who most closely match the original wielders." She's so _excited_ to explain her work, and he listens, allows her to use his Mission Control station to show it off. He asks the right questions to keep her talking – he wants to know what she's been up to with Casra, to understand what he had to teach, to fill in the gaps. Theoretical knowledge is sound, but he's surprised to find much of his Ranger's knowledge comes in handy – the lessons on focus and control of photon flow for more precise, _deadly_ shots comes into play when she goes into the theory of Talis potency and casting. There's a little bit of laughter, some teasing, and as he'd promised his minion, he goes into some history – though his knowledge of Force-based weapons and their history is a bit spottier than his two main classes of choice. But she takes her own notes, detailed and questioning him about every weapon and class he had ever tried. He gives her far more information about her secondary class of choice, before he at last finally manages to get a chance to question her about it.

"Why Fighter?" He asks her, and her cheeks flush slightly, surprised at his sudden question. She's hesitant in answering, and that sets off alarm bells in his head.

"It's a long story…" she says awkwardly, _stalling_ him. He scowls, gives her a stern look.

"Then you better get started in telling it, now don't you?" He says sternly, and she wilts in obvious apology. After a deep breath, she does. He's not sure when his mouth falls open, but he's definitely gaping at her when she's finished, torn between pride and strangling her with his bare hands.

"Minion," he says the words with no small amount of annoyance, and she wilts further at his tone. "If I didn't care about you so much, I'd kill you to save myself the trouble of worrying about your impending demise." He's not joking, and she looks incredibly small, head bowed in apology.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, ashamed. Zeno bites back the acidic response that comes to the tip of his tongue, instead cupping her face in his hands and making her look him in the eye.

"Who is she?" He asks, and she blanches at that question. Kazue won't tell him, or perhaps _can't_ is the more accurate answer.

"I promised her I wouldn't say…" She whispers the words. A spark of fury builds deep in his gut, and he pulls her forward to kiss her forehead.

"What does she look like then? I want _every_ detail you can give me." He's still furious, but he wouldn't dare make her break the promises she was so determined to keep, even if it did irk the fuck out of him. He knew how seriously his beloved minion took her promises. She obeys the half order, soft-spoken and more than a little frightened for her friend. Zeno knows the expression on his face is likely scaring her, but he can't help it.

Of course, he knew about the fucking dragon gone haywire. Every single person on Oracle knew about the damn thing. But for someone to rope _his_ beloved minion into it? _Repeatedly_? No. Fuck that shit he would _not_ let his minion get suckered into a wild monster chase with some stranger he didn't even fucking _know_.

"I won't hurt her," he says darkly, stalling his minion's question before it leaves her lips. "I'll just be _tempted_." She puffs her cheeks out the way she always does when he gets overprotective, but she's a smart girl, doesn't argue with him when he says those words. He kisses the top of her head again fondly, and she lets the air rush out of her, yielding to his insistence. "Thank you, baby girl," he says, and he's rewarded with a small smile, even if she is slightly annoyed with him. "This… stranger. She's reliable?" Kazue gives a small shrug.

"When we meet," she confirms. "As far as I know, her only job at the moment is tracking the dragon down, and she doesn't give herself much downtime. I've almost exclusively met with her on the field, and the only time I didn't was because she was requisitioning supplies." Zeno's lips purse slightly. Dedicated at least. Though he still disliked her on principle, he would give the woman the benefit of the doubt until she put his beloved minion in genuine danger. He kisses her forehead, lets go despite the instinct screaming at him to lock her in a safe room and keep her away from danger.

 _She's an ARKs Zeno. Coddling her would be an insult moron_ , his mind snarks at him. She gives him a big hug when he lets go, reluctant to allow his minion too much freedom.

"You're so overprotective," she sighs at him fondly, and his face reddens at being caught out. "Don't worry _Zeno_ ," she teases him fondly, holding hands with him. "It's okay. Just don't tuck me away in some high tower somewhere." She giggles, and Zeno pouts, only half-considering the idea's merits. Their brief spot of levity is quickly subdued by a rapid pounding on their door, and Zeno's head snaps up. Nobody usually knocks, but it sounded urgent.

Casra's on the other side, and his usually cheery expression is flat – nearly dead. The occasions on which Casra would let out his real self were rare, but he wasn't joking or hiding behind his usual veneer.

"Rogio was assassinated two hours ago." Any good cheer they'd felt before his arrival turned into an icy chill, and Zeno could already see the headache this would cause.


	23. A Tale of Two Photons

"I should hit you," Kazue sulks from her spot on the campship. Zeno understands her feelings, but practically speaking, he knows that Casra's motivations for telling the lie in earshot of the crawling techs was honest. "Rogio's been assassinated? You scared four years off of my life." She's tucked up in a blanket that Casra had provided, sipping at her tea as they head towards Lillipa in search of the missing scientist. Zeno's been cleared, albeit reluctantly, for a field mission, and he's glad to get out of

"Minion." Casra doesn't say anything, instead raising an eyebrow over his own cup and closing his mouth, curious to see what his answer was. "Casra can't _tell_ you that the assassination failed. He's head of the intelligence department." Kazue's green eyes go round behind her tea, and the man tilts his head towards Zeno in respect, a smile on his lips.

"He's completely correct. Here we are safe – this is my personal campship, and I check it for bugs every time I use it." He chuckles a little, though the sound is hollow. "I _am_ sorry dear," he sounds apologetic, and that satisfies Zeno for the moment. She huffs at his apology, stirring her tea with a fingertip.

"Vengance _will_ be mine." She says in return, and Zeno bites his lower lip to hide a laugh. "Quit laughing," she grumbles when their only reaction is amusement.

"Don't worry minion," he reassures her when she glares balefully over her cup of tea at them both, "I'll help you plan your revenge." Casra no longer seems amused, and his glance slides carefully into worry.

"Oh dear," he decides on, and Zeno chuckles. "I suppose I'll have plenty to worry over when you and I share that apartment." Kazue's head jerks up, and Zeno winces internally.

" _Apartment?"_ Kazue squeaks, eyes going wide. She turns her accusing look on Zeno this time, and he raises his hands defensively. "Zeeeeeeno," she whines, and he glowers at Casra, who's gone right back to being amused. "You didn't tell me you were getting a _roommate!_ " She's pouting when he looks at her, and he sighs, rubs his forehead.

"Minion, I literally had no _time_ to tell you. I swear I would have if Casra hadn't interrupted us." She eyes him dubiously, before huffing. "I promise I was," Zeno says the words with some annoyance, and after a moment, she accepts his response.

"Fine," she huffs. "But I get to decorate," she tells him stubbornly, Zeno rolling his eyes heavenward.

"My god Kazue," he huffs, using her real name to denote how annoyed he was, though he's smiling at her fondly all the same. "I can't believe you. _Fine_ you can decorate. But keep it tasteful." Casra's lips quirk up, deep amusement on his features, though he doesn't say a word.

Thankfully, the whole conversation has Kazue nicely derailed from her original topic, sipping her tea and quietly plotting both of their demises as she anxiously tries to ignore the fact that they were heading towards Rogio's last known whereabouts. It's mercifully silent, before Casra bites his lower lip, hesitantly speaks. "I won't be able to go with either of you – and Zeno… as much as I hate to say it, it's not wise for you to do so either." Zeno feels indignant, bristling at the implied reprimand. "It's not a good idea given that your reputation has taken a hit for associating with me." Casra says the words gently but firmly, and it's almost a physical blow, sinking him back into his seat from the shock. Kazue's gaze flits between them both, her head tilting like a confused puppy. "We can investigate something else while we're there, but Kazue _must_ go alone." And despite it, he can see Casra's faintly disappointed look, half-hidden behind his glasses and hat. "We have a slightly more pertinent job." Zeno feels the outrage, head snapping up before realizing that Casra is wearing a more _serious_ look than he'd expected.

"What kind of job?" Kazue's voice is tentative, small. She's no happier about going it alone than he is, but she's listening.

"You said that the masked person went after you when you found a missing piece of the weapon." He says the words grimly, and a chill runs up Zeno's spine at the tone. "Rogio's study into the climate has gifted the young man with a great many readings – including that of both our mystery Falz and the piece of the weapon that you said they attacked you for." Kazue stiffens. "Our job will to prevent Rogio from being found while you're looking for him by that mysterious entity. Additionally, the same readings have started emitting in the tunnels of Lillipa's subterranean areas." Kazue's spine straightens with purpose this time, not fear, and Zeno bites his lower lip. "Your friend Afin is already down on Lillipa, and I believe Miss Fourier is among the species you helped her find – you could certainly make use of their skills to help you, and we will run as much interference between yourself and that… _thing_ ," his voice twists with audible disgust, though his expression remains neutral as ever. "Will find itself in a world of trouble with us." Zeno can get behind a plan like that, he thinks, and looking at the almost awed expression on her face, he has to wonder what she's thinking.

"You'd do that for me?" Her question is awed, voice small in the face of such obvious care for her. Casra smiles at her, his expression a lot sweeter and milder than his usual ones. Zeno saves this one for future dissection.

"I like to think that wanting to protect a friend is a natural progression of events," he says the words carefully, but for Casra, they were monumental. The girl shucks her blankets aside, only pausing to set her cup down before she flings herself into Casra's arms, the man giving a startled noise at the action he should have expected from the younger woman. He looks horribly awkward at first, but he carefully fits his arms around her, Zeno smiling and encouraging him when the man delivers a baffled look his way, lost as to how to handle this change in her behavior. Kazue has rarely initiated contact with him, always hesitant to perform affectionate actions as Casra was himself, and it was good for them, Zeno thinks with a smile, as the exuberant girl drowns him in more affection than he could have ever asked for. Casra relaxes after a long moment, settling into the hug and resting his cheek on top of her head, the two curled around one another. It takes a bit of nudging before they're both comfortable, but it's nice. They _look_ good together like that, and something in him twists a little painfully. Casra pulls away, and Kazue detangles herself from him to give him a hug of his own, which he accepts with a bit of surprise – though it wasn't as if he didn't want one – rather the opposite. She fits easily, settling into a familiar space in his arms, causes him to smile, a warmth spreading through him as he curls her close. Casra's expression is wistful, and Zeno frees an arm to offer the man a hug of his own, to which he shakes his head, unwilling to intrude. Zeno sighs and yanks the man over, watching him give an undignified squeak as he's forcibly made to join them. Kazue's gleeful at toppling the man's usual calm, happily taking her vengeance and snapping a photo just as Zeno, sensing opportunity, snatches his hat off his head. His startled look is picture perfect, and he glowers at them both, glasses askew and hair rumpled in a glorious mess.

"Really?" He complains in exasperation, though his lips are already curling into a smile, pleased to be included in something so amusingly harmless. He still accepts the hug, and Casra leans into them both briefly, before pulling away and taking his hat back, a faint pout on his fair features. Zeno shrugs, smiling. No sense missing a chance for a little fun given the lack of it in the future. Casra chuckles at them, before leaning back against his chair, the tense air around him fading at the little show of trust. There's a sort of intrigue in having the man relax so deeply at their shows of faith, but Zeno smiles at the man, watches him ease at such displays, and wonders as to the mysterious Third's past.

Once Kazue has resettled herself back happily in her blanket and is back to sipping at her tea, Casra continues, curiously looking her over. Though he's smiling, Zeno notes that he's more thoughtful about something than Zeno feels comfortable with. Casra's curiosity was an interesting thing, but not always _good_.

"We'll be dropping you off at your partner's last known location," Casra says evenly. "He should be expecting you, so don't worry about distracting him from his work. I may or may not have terrified him into staying nearby." Kazue looks distinctly unimpressed with him, and he smiles slyly at her. "Now, don't look so annoyed. There was no lasting harm done – and I agreed to trade him some files in exchange for delaying his work for a day." Kazue squints at him but sighs and accepts it.

"Fine. But if my aibou is even vaguely scarred from the encounter I will _shake_ you." She grumbles, only faintly joking, and Casra chuckles in return. The campship slows, and the portal opens, fractal blooms of light spiking into the air to signal it was ready. They watch her disappear, and Casra lifts ha hand to stop him gently.

"Give her a head start." Casra says slowly. "I need time to calibrate for our unwanted guest and letting her go ahead gives us a chance to talk." Zeno eyes him, curious even as he leans back to listen to his 'boss' speak. "While we have the time, I feel this might be important." Zeno's spine straightens, and the timbre of Casra's voice seems to darken slightly. "Unfortunately for us, our mystery guest has a _fascination_ with Kazue. With Rogio otherwise… _indisposed_ , at the moment, to continue his work, I took the liberty of cross-checking those records of his with that of the known wavelength of Kazue's assailant. I don't think that girl's completed a solo mission without that _creature_ stalking her." Zeno's teeth grit, and the anger that he'd felt at the beginning sparks up again, burning in his gut hungrily as his famous – or perhaps _infamous_ – temper is forced to heel so he can finish listening. Casra's gaze hasn't wavered from him, and Zeno realizes uncomfortably that there's a fascination in his gaze. "You really are something else," Casra says softly, and Zeno's face heats, makes him look away. "No, _really_ ," Casra stresses the words with a smile. "Your protectiveness is famous you know," he chuckles a little, obviously enjoying Zeno's growing mortification. "The oh-so determined Zeno, and woe be to any fool who dares touch someone under his protection." Zeno's face grows even hotter, and he buries his head in his hands, whining loudly at the teasing affection.

"Please tell me that's _not_ a thing oh Pantheon," he moans, hearing Casra chuckle at the delicious irony.

"Oh no. ARKs get _warned_ about you. You're a scary story to our newbies." He's teasing, but Zeno gives another little moan of embarrassment all the same.

"This is a punishment for something I did wrong in a past life," he complains, and Casra chuckles, standing.

"Hey, famously protective isn't a bad label," he points out. "Better than famously destructive like another one of our colleagues." Zeno's nose wrinkles, but he accepts the point, standing along with the man to exit into the dusty tunnels of Lillipa.


End file.
